By John Marshal
“LOVE GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, SOUL, MIND AND STRENGTH”
Introduction
Have you discovered how easy it is to say, “I love God,” but how much more difficult it is to actually live up to those words daily both publicly and privately, particularly if we included the words, “with all our heart, soul, mind and strength? And considering the signs of the times we live in, it's going to become even more difficult to follow through on that commandment. Jesus calls this “The most important” commandment on two separate occasions, one in Mark 12:29-30, and the other in Matthew 22:36-37. This, as some might assume, is not only a New Testament command but an Old Testament one too. In fact, Jesus quotes it from Deuteronomy 6:5 which says, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength”. This is known as the Shema, taken from the first word “hear” in Hebrew. Modern Jews consider the recital of the Shema both evening and morning to be one of their most sacred duties. Some have tagged the Supreme Command of Deuteronomy 6:5 the “all-command,” because of the word “all”. There is no room here for divided affections or allegiance. As Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters” in Matthew 6:24. This most important commandment is what we’ll be meditating upon today. We’ll be meditating upon questions like “what does it mean to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength?” “On what basis does God command us to love him?” “How do we make this important commandment a reality in our lives?” Let’s close our eyes for a moment before going any further and ask God to speak to us as we meditate upon his Word together, shall we?
What does it mean to Love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength?
Before asking the question “what does it mean to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength?” firstly, let us understand the meaning of the word “Love” in our passage (Mark 12:29-30) as this is at the heart of our question. The concept of love that is spoken of here is very important, the word for love in the Greek is a particular kind of love. It does not just mean some kind of transient feeling of affection or desire towards someone or something, but is far deeper than that. 'Agape' love is a self-giving love, and implies not just a desire or feeling, but a decision of the will to be committed to someone or something. It is a love that endures even when times are difficult and feelings may not remain as they once were, and involves a total commitment on the part of the one who is loving another. This is the kind of love that God has for us, which will become very important for us later in this message. Having defined what love is in this context, let’s ask, “what did Jesus mean when he said, “love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength”? An easy way to answer this is to say that Jesus is clearly meaning that we love God with everything that we are, above everyone else, and above everything else. We are to commit everything to God, and bring everything under His control, giving ourselves to Him entirely for the rest of our lives.More specifically, there are a number of areas covered by these four words - they imply that we should love God with all of the following:
• our Desires – that we conform our desires to those which will please and honor God
• our Affections - that we love those things that God loves
• our Purposes - that we pursue those things that God would have us pursue
• our Will - that we choose that which is good in our lives
• our Feelings - that we subject our feelings to the truth of God’s Word
• our Character - that we pursue holiness, godliness, and purity
• our Time – that we spend our time wisely
• our Money – that we spend our money with accountability to God
• our Thoughts - that we meditate on the truth of God’s Word, and live every day in the light of it.
• our Talents – that we willfully use our talents for the glory of God.
This means that the love we’re called to must be wholehearted, life-encompassing, community-impacting, exclusive commitment to our God. This truth means that every closet of our lives needs to be opened for cleaning, and every relationship in our lives must be influenced. This call to love God this way destroys any option of being one person at church and another person at work. What you do on the internet needs to be just as pure as what you do in Bible-reading. The way we talk to our parents needs to be as wholesome as the way we talk to our pastors. There needs to be an authentic love for God that starts with God-oriented affections, desires, and thoughts, that permeates our speaking and behavior, and then influences the way we spend our money and how we dress, and drive, and our forms of entertainment. Whether we’re eating or singing, jogging or blogging, texting or drawing, love for God is to be in action and seen.
Does this seem like a tall order to you? Absolutely it should - this is the first and great commandment, and is the pinnacle of what it means to be a Christian! All through the Bible we’re shown that God isn’t after half-hearted disciples - people who will honor Him with some of their time, money and affection - God wants fully committed, cross-bearing people who will give absolutely everything for Him.
On what basis does God command us to love him?
God has not called us to conjure up this life-consuming love for Him out of thin air. It isn’t primarily a test of our will-power as to whether we can achieve this level of love for God.He commands us to love Him based on several facts. Let’s consider a few here.
Firstly, he commands us to love Him based on His love for us. The Bible says in 1 John 4:19 that we love because he first loved us. Whether it’s the Old Testament or the New, God’s issue of commands follow the same pattern – demonstration of love followed by an invitation to obedience and faithfulness. What does this mean for us? Well it means this: Our love for God is primarily a response to the incomparable love that God has shown us in His Son Jesus. As Jesus died on a Roman cross, paying the penalty for our sins, there was literally nothing more that He could give us - there is no greater love than a man laying down his life for his friends. This is of course the essence of the Gospel message - though we were far from God, sinners and His enemies, though we were completely unworthy of God’s love and acceptance, He chose to send Jesus into this world to give Himself for us. It’s as we come to recognize more and more just how great the love of God for us really is that we are enabled to love Him in return. So, I wouldn’t personally call this a “command,” although it is, but a friendly invitation to faithfulness.
Secondly, he commands us to love him not for His sake, but for ours. Sometimes people ask me why does God demand worship and adulation from His creatures; is he a praise maniac like a tyrannical mafia boss? Absolutely not! He wants us to obey Him because when we are in a loving relationship with Him we discover ourselves in the process; we come to who we truly are. Since He’s our Creator, Sustainer, Savior and King, everything we have comes from Him. He’s the one who knows the purpose of our design and existence. When we live according to the purposes of the designer we perform our best. Look at David for instance! He loved God’s Word and treasured it as though it was His greatest treasure. God’s commands for David was as sweet as honey. David obeyed God not merely because God demands it, but he knew that obeying God’s commands is a gift from God that contains secrets to successful living. As a result, more than fifty percent of his writing was about the importance of God’s Word and commands. No wonder he was called “a man after God’s own heart.” Now, having discussed what it means to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and the basis by which God issues this command, the next obvious question is: “how do I make this a reality in my life?”
How do I make “Loving God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength” a living reality?
In other words, how do I love God with whole-hearted, life encompassing, community impacting devotion on a daily basis,both publicly and privately? One of the ways Jesus answered this question can be found in the parable of the “Vine and the Branches” found in John 15: 1-8. In this parable, the "vine" is Christ Jesus, the "vinedresser" is the Eternal Father, and the "branches" are the Lord’s disciples. We can infer from the context of John 15:1-8 that "fruit" symbolizes good deeds, characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit. Jesus says in John 15:4: "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me." The New International Version says, "Remain in me, as I will remain in you." The Amplified Bible says, "Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you." But the obvious question arises, what does it mean to abide in Jesus Christ as the branches in the vine? I believe three things are implied: connection, dependence, and continuance.
First, connection. Abiding in Jesus first of all means having a life-giving connection to him. A branch is connected to the vine, and a vine to the branch. This is what theologians frequently describe as “union with Christ.” Notice that this connection, this union, is mutual. We abide in him and he abides in us (v. 4). If there is no connection, there is no life, no fruit.
Second, dependence. Abiding also implies dependence. This aspect of abiding, unlike connection, is not reciprocal. The branch is dependent on the vine, but the vine is not dependent on the branch. The branch derives its life and power from the vine. Without the vine, the branch is useless, lifeless, powerless. Sap flows from the vine to the branch, supplying it with water, minerals, and nutrients that make it grow. And believers receive the “sap” of Christ’s grace through our life-giving connection to him. We are completely dependent upon Jesus for everything that counts as spiritual fruit (v. 4). Apart from him, we can do nothing (v. 5).
Finally, continuance. Abiding also involves continuance. In fact, “abide” (Greek, meno) means to remain, or stay, or continue. For example, in John 1:38-39, two of the disciples who first encountered Jesus asked him “Where are you staying?” They wanted to know where Jesus made his residence. The word “staying” is the same word translated “abide” in John 15. To abide is to reside. To abide is to continue, to stay, to remain. This shows us that another aspect of abiding in Jesus is remaining in Jesus. This simply means that we go on trusting, that we keep on depending, that we never stop believing. In summary, to abide in the vine means to be united to Jesus (connection), to rely on Jesus (dependence), and to remain in Jesus (continuance).
That leads to a final question: how do you abide? If abiding in Jesus involves ongoing daily dependence on him, what does that look like? Jesus himself tells us. We abide in Jesus by letting his words abide in us (v. 7) and by abiding in his love (v. 9-10). To put it simply, abiding in Jesus doesn’t require advancing beyond the gospel to something else. It doesn’t demand a crisis decision or a mystical experience. It just means keeping the words of Jesus in our hearts and minds, so that they are renewing and reviving us, shaping and sanctifying us, filling and forming us. And it means keeping ourselves in his infinite, enduring, sin-bearing, heart-conquering, life-giving love.
Conclusion
So, as I close, if you have a great desire to love God with all that you are, with heart, soul and mind, let me urge you not just to try harder but to soak yourself in the love of God for you. Remind yourself daily of the amazing sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, and as you do so, may He by the power of the Holy Spirit, empower you to lay down your life for Him as He laid down His life for you.