We offer this guided meditation on Mark 12:33. May this practice bring you an experience of Christ Jesus’ love and guide you in an understanding of the powerful love God has for you.
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Bible Journaling Mark 12:33
Today’s Bible verse of the day is Mark 12:33. Let’s explore this verse with some Bible journaling prompts and ideas to help us understand the meaning of this verse as it relates to our life.
Opening Prayer
Lord Jesus, your command it to love God and love my neighbor as myself. I consider you to be the embodiment of the Father. Help me to know God through knowing you. Help me to understand how to love God by experiencing your love for me through your sacrifice on the cross, and through the love I feel for you.
15 Bible Prompts for Mark 12:33
- Do I love God with all my heart?
- If not, what’s stopping me?
- Do I love my neighbor as myself?
- If not, what’s stopping me?
- What is one way I can practice loving God?
- What is one way I can practice loving my neighbor?
- What does it mean to love God with all my soul?
- Do I love God with all my soul?
- If not, what prevents me from doing so?
- What does it mean to love God with all my strength?
- Do I love God with all my strength?
- If not, what gets in the way?
- Why is it an important statement that loving God and your neighbor is worth more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices?
- How does loving others bring me closer to the Kingdom of Heaven?
- How does loving God bring me closer to the Kingdom of Heaven?
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Love Him With All Your Heart Mark 12:33
And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. Mark 12:33 (KJV).
What Does Mark 12:33 Mean?
If you’re wondering what Mark 12:33 means, you may want to look to Mark 12:28. One of the teachers of the law had asked Jesus, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
Now, we can only imagine what the teacher thought Jesus was going to say. Maybe even some people in the crowd believed Jesus was going to provide an answer in alignment with one of the ten commandments. Can you imagine what that was like back then when Jesus answered something very, very different from what was expected?
Could you imagine what it would be like to have Jesus here today, and for Him to provide an answer very different from what we expect based on our knowledge and understanding of the New Testament? WOAH!
This was a BIG deal…
On top of that, the teacher of the law agrees with Jesus in 12:33, stating that loving God and your neighbor is worth more than all the burnt offerings. Now, this is amazing! Here’s a teacher of the law, who in those ancient times, would have been advocating for a major component of Jewish ritual, which was the offering of Karbanot, and he’s agreeing with Jesus that love is more important than Karbanot. To which Jesus says, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
So this may be a good question to ourselves as well. How much of our belief revolves around us going to church or other rituals and how much do we devote ourselves to loving God with all our heart, all our understanding, all our strength and all our soul? How far are we from the kingdom of God?
Other Spiritual Practices for Mark 12:33
Consider engaging with one of these practices to come to a deeper understanding of this verse and what it means in your personal life.
- Guided Meditation Mark 12:33
- Lectio Divina Mark 12:33
- Bible Journaling Mark 12:33
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Love the Children of God 1 John 5:2
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
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2 Corinthians 13:14
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.
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Bible Verse 1 Corinthians 13:13
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
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Verse of the Day: 1 Thessalonians 3:12
May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.
References
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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Bible Verse of the Day 1 John 4:12
1 John 4:12 NIV
No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
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Bible Journaling 1 John 3:16
Today’s Bible journaling activity is on 1 John 3:16. Let us call upon the Holy Spirit to help reveal the meaning of this verse for our lives.
Opening Prayer
Come, Holy Spirit, and fill me with the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Open me to the wisdom of the Word, and guide me into an understanding of the meaning of these words for my life at this time, and in this moment of my life. Through Christ Jesus I pray, Amen.
Bible Journaling Prompts
Here are 20 ideas to help get you started with your Bible Journaling practice of 1 John 3:16
- How do you know love?
- Have you ever contemplated Christ’s sacrifice as a sacrifice of love?
- How much would you have to love someone to die for them the way Jesus died?
- How does thinking about this verse make you feel?
- Could you lay down your life for your brothers and sisters?
- What makes you reluctant to do so?
- Who in your life could you lay your life down for?
- What makes you able to sacrifice your life for this person?
- If it is love, how much do you love this person?
- Is this love you feel for this person similar to the love Jesus has for you?
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Bible Verse of the Day 1 John 3:16
1 John 3:16
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
Other Spiritual Practices for 1 John 3:16
- Guided Meditation 1 John 3:16
- Lectio Divina 1 John 3:16
- Bible Journaling 1 John 3:16