How Do You Love God?

The last four blog entries have been about different aspects of the Greatest Command:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.
—Mark 12:30 (NASB95)

As a teen we had a few cliché answers when asked about heart, soul, mind and strength:

• Heart = Emotions
• Soul = Inner being (whatever that is)
• Mind = Intellect
• Strength = Physical

Those associations might carry an element of truth, but they didn’t translate to daily life. I wish someone had pointed us to the example of King Josiah! (See last week’s blog entry.)

Now, did you notice the extreme repetition?

Jesus could have given us the short list: heart, soul, mind and strength. Yet, the repetition of and places emphasis on every single element in the list. Love God with all your heart…
   ...and that’s not all; there’s more...soul…
   ...and that’s not all; there’s more...mind…
   ...and that’s not all; there’s more...strength.

And it is not just that you love God with your heart, soul, mind and strength, but...

• ALL your heart and...
• ALL your soul and...
• ALL your mind and...
• ALL your strength.

So, how does that translate to daily life?

First, love is not a mere emotion. Love is a conscious choice desiring a relationship.

The one who loves God has made a conscious decision to pursue a relationship with God. He will do whatever it takes to initiate and maintain that relationship. It is an intentional decision that becomes the filter through which all perceptions, thoughts, life decisions, purpose, daily choices, speech and behaviors pass. It is a resolute and determined choice that generates a deep conviction that cannot be shaken.

Your love for God governs your relationship with family, not vice versa. God rules in your choice of career and the individual jobs you take, the friends you make, the way you spend your money, and even the way you vacation.

The threat of losing your relationship with God keeps you from being lax about sin. It cools your anger, encourages patience, curbs coarse language, removes envy and jealousy, dampens temptations to lie, steal, cheat, gossip and lust.

Your love for God gives you energy in life. He motivates you to get out of bed, to look at each new day with awe and wonder, to enjoy life in contentment without coveting the lives and possessions of others. Your love for God gives you purpose in your dead-end job, in your unfulfilling relationships, and in your mundane life.

Your love for God turns your listless daydreaming into thoughtful actions for others. Your love for God doesn’t let youth hold you back, doesn’t let the busy years exhaust you, and doesn’t let age wear you down. Regardless of your age, health, income, position, education and all else, your love for God moves you to love others.

Your love for God compels you to bow in awe and to stand in praise. You listen to Jesus because you love God. You embrace God’s people because you love God and they love God. Your love for God defines you, and you don’t worry about what other people think or how you look.

Your love for God gives you insight into this life and a vision of hope that peers into eternity!

Mark Stinnett

April 25, 2921