In Luke 10:27 and Mark 12:30, we notice that both passages use a fourfold description to explain how we are to love God: Heart, soul, strength, and mind. In the Old Testament we find a similar command in Deuteronomy 6:5-6, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thine might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart.” It leaves out the word mind, but the Greek words for ‘heart’ and ‘mind’ translate the full spectrum of meaning in Hebrew for our inner sanctuary of devotion.
We realize as a follower of Christ, the constant battle to be an overcomer for Him begins with allowing ourselves to be distracted from His presence. When our attention is drawn away from our vows to walk with Him and listen to His voice, we lose focus of our responsibility to to keep Him as our highest priority. To obey our Lord we must know what He is saying. We cannot love Him or others the way He demands if our attention is centered on worldly desires.
When we love ourselves more than we love God we are out of balance and living a lukewarm existence. When we spend more time dwelling on things that please us than we spend with God, we have drifted far from the shore. Do we really care? A man wrote me the other day and asked how he can win the war against his addiction to porn. We serve whom we obey. The awareness of God’s presence includes thinking about Him while we are involved with everyday life. Whatever we are doing we can allow Him to be involved and this will help us resist the temptation to sin and make right decisions.
To love God with our heart includes loving Him with our emotions. Will we have emotions in heaven? We can base our speculations on the fact that God has emotions. Since we are made in God’s image, our feelings are like His except His expressions are always pure and righteous. We notice He displays responses such as anger, regret, sadness, grieving, sorrow, delight, happiness, gladness, kindness and compassion, and of course love. Emotions are how we perceive, discern, and decide. Trusting God in our personal relationship with Him is how we know Him and love Him with all of our hearts – all the time.
Loving God with your soul includes knowing you were wondrously made by the Creator of all things. When you discipline yourself to be still and quiet, something deep inside of you just knows there is a God. When we look at all of the intricacies of the universe, our planet, and the human body, we realize only a divine designer can do that. Humans have a void within their souls that can only be filled by the one who made them. Once we accept this reality, we must go beyond knowledge and allow this truth to fill our soul with His joy and peace. Spiritual intimacy with God has no limitations except for our fear of becoming one with Him.
Loving God with all of our strength is combining works with our faith. It’s not being afraid to step out of our comfort zone and caring so much that we are driven to help others. True faith is one of the most talked about subjects, but is rarely seen because it requires love, strength, and courage. How passionate are we about evangelism? I pray that I never become so cold and numb that I no longer care about the lost and those who are suffering. If we read the Bible and the words are not put into practice it’s just information. All of my strength? Really?
The lack of loving God with all of our heart, soul, and strength exposes even the most dedicated saint. Sermons and our worship songs say all the right things, but how much truth will we allow to change us? Loving God with our mind is our last word, and it includes crucifying our flesh daily so that we are mentally focused more on His plans instead of our own. If we are faithful, we will be fruitful. Let us humble ourselves and bow down in reverential fear of His holiness. He wants our lives to be all of Him and none of us, but we want to have some of Him and more of us.
Dr. Holland lives in Central Kentucky with his wife Cheryl, where he is a minister, Christian author, and community chaplain. Read more about the Christian life at: billyhollandministries.com.
