If you go to the home of a devout Jew, even today, nailed to the door frame will be a little case (called a mazuzah). As you go through the door, give it a kiss (kiss your fingertips and then touch them to the mazuzah). Because, in that case is a scroll with THE verse of scripture that is the foundation of the Law. In Hebrew, it goes like this:
Sh’ma Israel Adonai elohenu, Adonai E’Had. V’ahavta eyt Adonai EloheHa b’Hol l’vavHa uv-Hol nafsh’Ha uv-Hol m’odeHa. Deut 6:4-5
Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Deut 6:4-5
This is the heart of the Jewish faith; that you must love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. The Jews are not wrong. In fact, Jesus named this verse as the First Commandment. But it is not the heart of the Christian faith. The heart of the Christian faith is that God loves you with all His heart, and with all His soul, and with all His strength.
In His love, God taught us to live better, to live happier by living morally, by living the Ten Commandments.
The [Ten Commandments are] a path of life: … # 2057
… from which [we human beings] draw life when [we] practice them. Neh 8:29
God gave the Law as a “pedagogue” [a teaching device] to lead his people towards Christ. #708 see also # 62
And God taught only as much as the Israelites were able to learn. An example of this comes from the part of the Law that reads:
eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. Exo 21:24-25 see also Lev 24:20 Deu 21:21
Some people read that and figure, “Oh boy! The Bible says I can take revenge.” But that is not what God was doing. God was saying to take no more revenge than what was done to you. God was moving us human beings away from
the vengeance of Lamech, who said:
I have killed … a boy for bruising me. Gen 4:23
toward the gentleness of Jesus, who said:
turn the other [cheek] Mat 5:39 see also Lk 6:29
… the [Ten Commandments] point out the conditions of a life freed from the slavery of sin. # 2057 see also # 708