For posterity: my thoughts on THE MOST IMPORTANT COMMANDMENT

Doctrinally, of course, the Lord has made clear what the greatest commandment is:

"But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

(Matthew 22: 34-40)
 
I cannot profess to live these commandments fully yet, but I do try.  Obviously, the Lord knows what He's saying and these are the two greatest commandments.  I believe that as we come closer to living this law, we come closer to becoming like our Savior, Jesus Christ, which is kinda the point of our whole mortality.  Go live it!
 
But I've also heard it said by wise people that the most important commandment is the one you're having the hardest time keeping.  I think there's a lot of truth in that one, too.  Not that we can ever be complacent in our keeping of the commandments, and not that we shouldn't be keeping ALL of them...but when it comes to knowing where to begin the process of sanctifying ourselves, I think this saying hits the nail right on the head.
 
I've been thinking about self-improvement as the Lord has set it up for us.  And I've had this quote running through my head all day.  In the interest of full disclosure, I will tell you the two commandments that I personally have the hardest time keeping:
 
(1) Be of good cheer.
 
I've suffered depression since my teenaged years, and while certainly everyone's experience is different, my own personal periods of intense depression come when I am not keeping the commandments as I should--not so much sins of commission as sins of omission.  To be sure, even when I'm doing my best I still struggle, and I probably will my whole life.  Depression, anxiety, obsessive behaviors, and other mental disorders run in my family, and that's just a fact.  This commandment to be of good cheer is just not my strength.  So it's something I certainly need to focus on A WHOLE HECKA LOT in my life!
 
(2) Thou shalt not covet.
 
I don't know if this is a recent development or if I just never recognized the signs earlier in my life, but this is a commandment that is very difficult for me to keep.  It's not that I covet what other people own.  I really couldn't care less about STUFF.  I covet what other people ARE.  I covet talents of others, especially when those talents are something I've been working towards myself and I can see more starkly the difference.  I covet praise and acknowledgement, attention sometimes (though you'd never know it by talking to me).  I covet the social lives of some and the personalities of others.  I covet spiritual gifts, not just seeking them but actually feeling personally injured when I see others who have them.  I suppose that goes with a lot of things, actually.  I covet what some people DO...teaching professionally, or traveling, or raising children.  I know that at the heart of coveting is pride and judgment, comparing others to myself and finding where one of us is lacking.  I get that that's bad no matter how we both stack up.  But I still do it! 
 
I've got a LOT of work to do before I'm perfect.  I keep hoping that means that I'm gonna live a LONG time...maybe another 50, 60, even 70 years?  MAYBE I'll be a little closer by then.  :)  I'm SO SO SO grateful, though, for the knowledge I have of a Savior that loves me and that not only forgives me when I mess things up, but who helps me through the process of the refiner's fire.  And He makes up the difference in the end.  How AWESOME is He?