Give it all you've got

Give it all you've got

Social studies is your worst subject in school. No matter how hard you try, you can never remember what you're supposed to know. Finally, you start to think, "Who cares what they did 100 years ago? I'm not studying this stuff!"

Everyone struggles to learn some things, but Jesus would hope you don't just give up. That's the message He gives us in this week's Gospel (Mark 12:28-34).

A man asked Jesus, "Which of the Ten Commandments is most important?" Jesus said, "The Lord is the only God! Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength." Jesus added, "The second greatest is, 'Love your neighbor as much as you love yourself.'"

When you're struggling to learn who the presidents were or what the explorers did, it's easy to get frustrated. You might even think you should just try to pass your social studies tests, not do well.

Some people Jesus met did that. They figured if they weren't breaking any big laws, they were doing a good enough job following God. They thought, "Why try harder?"

The neat thing about working on your worst subject is that when you finally learn something, you feel great! All of a sudden, you WANT to keep trying hard. You might never get an "A" in social studies, but you feel like working at it.

That was what Jesus wanted us to know in the Gospel story -- that when you're trying to follow God, give it everything you've got. He said, "Try to be good -- with all your heart, soul, mind and strength."

That's good advice -- for loving people, following God or social studies!