Belieiving in Him without loving yourself and others, is like looking at food but not eating it.
***I think Elsie’s got it right. The main message of Christ was that He had to die for our sins to pay the price, that He was God Himself. Sure, the most important COMMANDMENT was what you say, but that isn’t the Main Message.
Here’s an example: the first believer in our timeline. The thief on the cross. Do you think he loved himself? I don’t. Did he even have a chance to fulfill ANY of the commandments? NO. And yet, Jesus said that thief would be with Him that day in Paradise. What the thief responded to, that was the main message. Yes, the commandments are important, but that is not the main message or Jesus would have walked him through something related to them
Further thinking in support of this approach, Matt 19:20,21 The Commandments are subsumed in comparison to the response to Jesus.
The young man *said to Him, “All these (commandments) I have kept; what am I still lacking?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
With respect, that wasn't a message, it was an ACTION, a deed, it was THE action, it was THE deed: He died for us. We may live forever with God because Jesus died for us, and while one can rightly argue that there was a very powerful message in that deed, I recall a message Jesus had for God as He was dying for us: "Forgive them Father, they know not what they do."
When Jesus was here and among us, His primary message as He spoke it and taught it to us, was for us to love God with all our heart, mind, and soul, and to love your neighbor as you love yourself. Caww, what "false love"? Love is love, and IF it is love, then it is God, as the bible says "God is love." Love is CRITICAL, it is CRUCIAL, it is the KEY. People know in their hearts when they're falsely calling something "love" when it is only desire, lust, avarice or yearning. "Religious" folks trying to scare people away from love by worrying them that it might be "false" is a sure recipe for increased strife and vanity.
LOVE -- love God, love others, love yourself -- THAT was His specific, spoken message. Dying for us was more than a message, much more. I don't confuse His message -- wisdom, teaching, incredibly wise rules for living in harmony with each other, with His sacrifice. His message shows me the ways to do things right; His ACT, His sacrifice of dying for me, gives me the chance for eternal life.