Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Matthew 22:37
With our Heart
Jesus tells us the first and greatest commandment is “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matt 22:37), and says, “This is the great and first commandment” (Matt 22:38), but we must realize that none of us do this completely. We fall very far short of His glorious standard (Rom 3:23), but our love is demonstrated by our obedience to God as Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15), so loving God means obeying God, because love is action-oriented and not just words.
With our Soul
The word soul simply means our physical being and when we love God by obeying Him, we love Him by doing what He says. We can say we love God but our actions can betray our hearts because obedience to God is a display of our love for God, and who can say that they love God and still break His laws? It’s not possible to say you love someone and don’t do what they ask you to do because love is proven by action. Loving God is obeying God.
With our Mind
One way to love God with your mind is to read His Word and have the Word be entering your mind on a daily basis. We can’t love God with our heart and soul if we don’t love God with our mind. Of course, none of us do this perfectly, but we still need to have our minds renewed by God’s Spirit since we’re “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom 12:2).
Conclusion
Many people say that they love God, but who made the first move? The fact is “We love because he first loved us” (1st John 4:19), and not the other way around. Yes, God loves us and God loved us first, but we must still strive to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matt 22:37).
