If I were to ask you what the two greatest commands found in scripture are, what would you tell me? The answer is: To love God and to love our fellowman! In Matthew 22, a lawyer asked Jesus a question to test him. He asked Jesus, “What is the great commandment in the law?” He tells us this in Matthew 22:37-40, “37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
I don’t know who wrote this, but I love what the person wrote. “Loving God without loving people is impossible. However, loving people without loving God is impossible as well. Loving people is the direct result of our love to God.” This passage from Matthew 22 is found in Deuteronomy 6:5 which says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” The Israelites were to love God wholeheartedly. The same is true for us today.
First, we are to love God with our whole Heart. The truth is, we give God our heart and life because Jesus did that for us. We love Him who first loved us (1 John 4:19). Because He loves us, we love Him with our entire being or wholeheartedly. Because of what God has done for us, He deserves our attention and devotion. We devote our lives to God by submitting to Him in what He says to be saved. We devote our heart and life to Him by loving Him and obeying His commands (John 14:15). We live for Him because He loves us! We are holy because He is holy. He has saved us and made us one of His own. Because of that, we love Him wholeheartedly.
We are to love God with all our Soul. It’s been said, “Our Soul is the very core of who we are.” Jesus came to earth to save us from our sins. The soul is the deepest part of who we are, the part of us that searches for something more than just the physical and day-to-day life. I love what the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 42:1-2, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?”
Nothing else will satisfy our souls like the Lord. To love God with our soul is to live a Godly life before Him. To love Him with our soul is to live a holy life before Him. When the Devil temps us, we choose God over the lures of the liar and his empty promises. It means we love God and follow Him no matter what happens. We pray for God’s Spirit to dominate our lives as opposed to sin. It is giving God our everything because He gave us our greatest need – salvation. Here is a question all of us can ask ourselves to see whether we love God with all our soul or not. “When I speak or act, does it sound/look like Jesus or the world?”
We are to love God with all our Mind. Loving God with my mind means I need more of His thoughts. I need to be in His Word. I need to hear His truths daily. I need to study and soak up my mind with what He wants me to fill my mind up with. There is much filth in the world that can corrupt our minds. The Devil wants the mind just like God does. The one we feed will lead! The one we feed will lead our lives.
We can renew our minds and fill our minds up with God or we can allow the garbage of this world take control. Our thoughts shape our behavior, right? Scripture speaks of how we should guard our heart. Proverbs 23:7 says, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 4:23“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” To love God with all your mind means to focus on God’s Word and way of life!
We are to love God with all of our Strength. Loving God with all your strength means that we are going to do everything within to please and glorify our Heavenly Father in all that we do. It means always doing our best while holding nothing back. To love Him with all our energy. David Ralston wrote, “To love God with all our energy, with all our abilities, with all our talents, and with all our spiritual gifts, means serving the Lord by ministering to others. It means holding nothing back when it comes to our energy level in showing our love for God.” We love God with all our strength by connecting to the power and might that God gives us. We are strong in the Lord. Let’s be committed to living a life of love for God and one another. Love Him with all your strength!
We are to love our Neighbor as we love ourselves. James 2:8 says, “If you keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right.” Probably the best way we can love our neighbor as we love ourselves is to treat people as if they are Jesus. If we saw every soul that we met and see them as Jesus, we would be more loving, caring, forgiving, and we would make a difference in the lives of others. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, our neighbor can be a complete stranger. But following Christ means being a neighbor to everyone, and most importantly it is about us being that good neighbor. Peal Dy wrote, “Love your neighbor exactly as you love yourself. No more and no less.”
I don’t know who wrote this, but I love what the person wrote. “Loving God without loving people is impossible. However, loving people without loving God is impossible as well. Loving people is the direct result of our love to God.” This passage from Matthew 22 is found in Deuteronomy 6:5 which says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” The Israelites were to love God wholeheartedly. The same is true for us today.
First, we are to love God with our whole Heart. The truth is, we give God our heart and life because Jesus did that for us. We love Him who first loved us (1 John 4:19). Because He loves us, we love Him with our entire being or wholeheartedly. Because of what God has done for us, He deserves our attention and devotion. We devote our lives to God by submitting to Him in what He says to be saved. We devote our heart and life to Him by loving Him and obeying His commands (John 14:15). We live for Him because He loves us! We are holy because He is holy. He has saved us and made us one of His own. Because of that, we love Him wholeheartedly.
We are to love God with all our Soul. It’s been said, “Our Soul is the very core of who we are.” Jesus came to earth to save us from our sins. The soul is the deepest part of who we are, the part of us that searches for something more than just the physical and day-to-day life. I love what the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 42:1-2, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?”
Nothing else will satisfy our souls like the Lord. To love God with our soul is to live a Godly life before Him. To love Him with our soul is to live a holy life before Him. When the Devil temps us, we choose God over the lures of the liar and his empty promises. It means we love God and follow Him no matter what happens. We pray for God’s Spirit to dominate our lives as opposed to sin. It is giving God our everything because He gave us our greatest need – salvation. Here is a question all of us can ask ourselves to see whether we love God with all our soul or not. “When I speak or act, does it sound/look like Jesus or the world?”
We are to love God with all our Mind. Loving God with my mind means I need more of His thoughts. I need to be in His Word. I need to hear His truths daily. I need to study and soak up my mind with what He wants me to fill my mind up with. There is much filth in the world that can corrupt our minds. The Devil wants the mind just like God does. The one we feed will lead! The one we feed will lead our lives.
We can renew our minds and fill our minds up with God or we can allow the garbage of this world take control. Our thoughts shape our behavior, right? Scripture speaks of how we should guard our heart. Proverbs 23:7 says, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 4:23“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” To love God with all your mind means to focus on God’s Word and way of life!
We are to love God with all of our Strength. Loving God with all your strength means that we are going to do everything within to please and glorify our Heavenly Father in all that we do. It means always doing our best while holding nothing back. To love Him with all our energy. David Ralston wrote, “To love God with all our energy, with all our abilities, with all our talents, and with all our spiritual gifts, means serving the Lord by ministering to others. It means holding nothing back when it comes to our energy level in showing our love for God.” We love God with all our strength by connecting to the power and might that God gives us. We are strong in the Lord. Let’s be committed to living a life of love for God and one another. Love Him with all your strength!
We are to love our Neighbor as we love ourselves. James 2:8 says, “If you keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right.” Probably the best way we can love our neighbor as we love ourselves is to treat people as if they are Jesus. If we saw every soul that we met and see them as Jesus, we would be more loving, caring, forgiving, and we would make a difference in the lives of others. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, our neighbor can be a complete stranger. But following Christ means being a neighbor to everyone, and most importantly it is about us being that good neighbor. Peal Dy wrote, “Love your neighbor exactly as you love yourself. No more and no less.”
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