Jesus said in Mark 12:30, 31, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Did you catch that? There are no greater commandments then to love God and love others. Jesus calls on us to love God with every fiber of our being:

– With all our heart, this references our emotions. It’s oaky to shed a tear while partaking of the Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week. It’s okay to say “amen” during a point in the sermon that moves you. Sometimes we are afraid of looking TOO zealous in our emotions toward God that we show no emotion at all.

– With all our soul, meaning our spiritual side. We are spiritual beings, since we were created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26) and God is a spirit (John 4:24). I truly believe that in the DNA of very person is the desire to worship. Who and how we worship is revealed in the Bible and we must put our whole soul into it.

– With our mind, points to our intelligence. God has never asked us to “take a leap of faith” in loving Him. He has provided all the evidence we need to make rational decisions about who He is and why we should love Him. 

– With all our strength, that’s our physical being. While some people might feel physically stronger than others, whatever ounce of physical strength you have needs to be given to God. It might be just attending the worship service. It might be mowing your neighbor’s yard as you let your light shine as you serve God. Not matter what your physical limitations are, we can do something for the Lord.

Do you love God this much? 

In tomorrow’s article will look at the rest of the statement, Jesus is also calling on us to love others, to serve and care for them as we would care for our own needs.

By: Justin Odom