Whole-Hearted Love
How big is your love for God?
Verse of the Day
“Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’”
Today’s Devotional
Have you ever tried to trick anyone? I’m terrible at pulling it off because I have ZERO poker face. This verse comes from a place in the book of Matthew where some of the religious leaders are trying to trick Jesus, to trap Him with questions that they think will cause some sort of realization that He is a fraud. They ask about paying taxes, about details of resurrection, then about the Law.
Don’t you hate it when a good plan fails? This, however, was not a good plan. This was a clash of religion, rules, traditions and self proclaimed piety run riot.
So before we cast blame on these religious leaders…have you ever struggled with someone challenging the things that you thought were VITAL only to find out that you were being small minded and rigid?
I have. And then…God convicted me.
Which leads me to Jesus’s answer about the greatest commandment in the Law. First, love God. Second, love others.
But let’s stay with the first part of His answer, because the simplicity of it does not make it easy. I am to love God with all of my heart, soul and mind.
All of my heart: To me this implies where my affections lie, what I adore, what I have a fondness for. All of my soul: This implies (to me) my eternal nature. Do I love God with the part of me that will live forever, or do I serve my own need for immediate creature comforts and the things for this material, temporary world? All of my mind: This has to do with our thought life. I don’t believe it’s possible to think about spiritual things all of the time. That’s why we are told in 2 Corinthians 2:5 “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.” I am going to have wayward thoughts. But when I do, I am told to redirect all of my thoughts to Jesus. Do I love God enough to redirect my worried thoughts and turn those thoughts into praise for His faithfulness?
God wants wholehearted, whole-bodied, whole-minded love. He wants to be invited into every thought, every emotion, every action. God wants to be a part of every moment of our days. He wants us to notice Him and adore Him. But…He gives us a choice.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
Is it hard for you to fathom loving God with your whole heart, soul and mind? Do you recognize that you will never be able to do that perfectly?
How can you turn your heart, soul and/or mind toward God today in a way that reflects the love that you do have for Him?
Let’s make it more simple:
How can you love God with your thoughts today?
How can you love God with your emotions today?
How can you love God with your actions today?
If your love for God isn’t big enough, ask Him for help. He’s good at stuff like that.