Love

During Jesus time, there were two prominent Jewish groups. You have heard of them – the Sadducees and the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the conservative middle class, highly educated and very legalistic. They believed all of the Old Testament and loved to debate (and show-off their knowledge) about the Laws.

Naturally, they could not resist testing Jesus, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And Jesus answered, “You shall LOVE the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment” (Matthew 22:35-38)

Heart, Soul, and Mind – with every part of you, wholly, totally, completely, unreservedly.

God gave Himself to you in Jesus. Jesus loved you and He laid down His life for you on the cross. Having received that love, God wants you to love Him with your heart, soul, mind, and body; that is, with all of your passions, your eternal being, your emotions, your thoughts and reasoning, and all of your physical strength. God wants you to love Him with your whole being. By doing so, you express your love and gratitude; you return God’s love toward you in Jesus Christ.

To love God begins by being loved by God. We learn to love because God first loved us (I John 4:19). You will never love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength until you allow His love to cover and transform each of those areas of your life. Simply surrender in obedience to the Lord’s will.

This is often hard to do. We often want to be in control of our own lives. We depend on our strength to achieve. We want to do something big for God, or to accomplish something good for God. Often, we do these out of guilt, or fear, or duty. Only when we have experienced the unconditional love of God and understood the depth and width and immensity of it, can we respond in love to Him. Our worldly culture is based on performance and merits. Yet God sees your heart. God knows what is in your mind. God still loves you and wants you to love Him. Is there any other proper way to respond to this God except by loving Him and obeying Him with our whole being?