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Stretch Your MindUCC 101Testimonies of FaithGod is One

 
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Open QuoteHear,
O Israel:
the Lord
is our God,
the Lord
is One.Close Quote
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TESTIMONIES OF FAITH
God is One

Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.

Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:4-8

One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that [Jesus] answered them well, he asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?"

Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.'

The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

Then the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that 'he is one, and besides him there is no other'; and 'to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,' and 'to love one’s neighbor as oneself,'—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."

Mark 12:28-33

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 
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About This Testimony

Open BookThe "Shema Yisrael" ("Hear, O Israel"), from the Book of Deuteronomy, is one of the oldest confessions of faith in the Hebrew Bible—entering into Jewish tradition between 2600 and 2800 years ago. It is recited daily in Jewish prayer.

When asked which of the commandments is the greatest, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy but then adds, "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18) as the "second commandment." It is "like the first," Jesus says: you cannot love God completely unless you love your neighbor.

The story shows that confessions of faith are not merely abstract statements about God: they reveal a God who is intimately involved in our lives, and who inspires a faith that is oriented not only towards the One we worship but also the neighbor who is created in God's image.