There was a story about a large family with a big age difference between the older two brothers and the youngest. One of the brothers asked the youngster why he liked his sibling better than him. He answered, “When you tell us to wipe our feet when we come in the door it sounds like ‘because if you don’t you’re a slob.’ When he tells us it sounds like ‘because mother just cleaned the house and you want to respect her.'” That story reminds me of the approach the Jesus urges us to have toward the commandments. “Whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.” Why we do things — out of love — matters more than what we do.
