By Andrew Williams
Good morning fellow disciples, in this series we will be answering questions that will help us to become faithful disciples of Christ.
The command to “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) is one of the most fundamental calls in the Christian life.
BUT WHAT DOES IT REALLY MEAN TO LOVE GOD WITH OUR WHOLE BEING?
Heart
At the core, loving God with all our heart means devoting our deepest affections, desires, and passions to Him. It’s about having a heart that beats for God above all else – where our love for Him eclipses our love for any other person, pursuit, or thing. A heart wholly committed to God is one that finds its greatest joy, satisfaction, and fulfillment in knowing and walking with Him.
Soul
To love God with all our soul is to love Him with the very essence of who we are. It’s about engaging our entire inner life – our thoughts, our will, our emotions – in worshiping and serving the Lord. It’s allowing God to permeate every area of our being so that our relationship with Him becomes the defining reality of our existence.
Mind
Loving God with all our mind means applying our intellectual faculties to knowing, understanding, and delighting in Him. It’s about cultivating a mind that is captivated by the wonder of God’s character and consumed with seeking after His truth. This kind of love is marked by a thirst for God’s word, a curiosity to explore the depths of His nature, and a commitment to thinking deeply about the implications of the gospel.
Ultimately, loving God completely is not just an emotional experience or an intellectual exercise. It’s about surrendering the whole of who we are – heart, soul, and mind – to the One who loved us first and calls us to love Him above all else. It’s about making Him the supreme treasure and unrivaled passion of our lives.
As we seek to love God in this way, may our lives be marked by an all-consuming devotion that flows from the core of our being. For in doing so, we will discover the joy, purpose, and transformation that come from living in the loving embrace of our heavenly Father.
Prayer: Father God, we desire to love You with all that we are – our heart, our soul, and our mind. May our affections be wholly devoted to You, our innermost being surrendered to Your will, and our thoughts captivated by Your truth.
In Your great love, draw us ever closer to Yourself, that we would find our greatest joy, satisfaction, and purpose in knowing and walking with You. Help us to make You the supreme treasure of our lives and the unrivaled passion that defines our existence. Amen.