“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind . . . with all your strength’” (Matt 22:36, 37; Mk 12:30; Lk 10:27 NIV). With that statement and verse 39, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’, Jesus summed up the entire Law. These verses are easy to read and even memorize, but exactly what do they mean? Too often, we read a verse but never stop and consider what it means practically in your Christian walk. How do we ‘flesh it out’ in everyday life? What do we do or don’t do when we love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind and with all our strength?
The first step toward applying this command is developing a practical understanding of the words, heart, soul, mind, and strength. Theology books go into great depth seeking a definition of these words however most of the writers state their conclusions using abstract statements and giving few, if any, how to’s. The Bible was first written to concrete thinkers who wanted to know how to accomplish godliness in their daily living. Jesus demonstrated the how to with the second command, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. He told the parable of a Samaritan who came across another traveler that had been robbed and beaten. He demonstrated love in a concrete and practical manner by bandaging up the man’s wounds, bringing him to an inn, and taking care of him.
One of my earliest acquaintances in the church was a man who could be called a bit eccentric. He read the entire Bible every week for years. He knew the words of Scripture but little beyond that. He always claimed he could not die of a heart attack because Jesus gave Him new eternal heart. He was sure Jesus was referring to the physical heart. He died from a heart attack. Our spiritual heart can simply be defined as the control center of our wills. It is the seat of desire, inclination, or will (Vine). One writer says the heart is the place of human depravity or the sphere of divine influence. Solomon told us, Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life (Pro 4:23). Want to know if you love God with all you heart—listen to what you say. For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart (Matt. 12:34).
Although far more complex, the simplest definition we can give the soul is the seat of our emotions. Through the soul we feel anger, bitterness, resentment, self-pity, hatred, fear, etc. Loving the Lord with all our soul means we bring our feelings in line with God’s. Instead of giving up hope in bad situations, we choose to hope. Instead of anger, we choose patience endurance. Instead of hatred, we choose to love our enemies and pray for those who despitefully use us. These are only a few examples of loving God with all our soul.
Loving with our mind would seem the easiest to apply. “Oh! I study and put the Word in my mind every day.” However, it involves far more than study. The mind is the seat of our intellectual life. With it, we form beliefs and make decisions. When we love God with all our minds, we base life on what we put into our mind from the written Word. An all-important element of obeying this command is guarding what we allow into our minds. David gives an essential principle. I will set no worthless thing before my eyes or as NLT translates it, I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar (Ps 101:3). Consider this when you watch TV or go to a movie. Paul adds our thoughts as another part of loving God with all our mind. Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious-the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse (Phil 4:8 MSG).
Without knowing the background of Jesus’ answer, one might think this was something the Jews had never heard. However, every male Jew recited these verses twice each day of their life. It came straight from the Law and the Jew called it the Shema (Deut. 6:4-9). The Hebrew thought process did not view humans as a collection of individual parts as heart, soul, mind, and strength as the Greeks did. Rather they understood what we divide into parts, as an integration of wholes into one with heart, soul, mind, and strength interacting and interdependent on the others. You don’t have one without the other. The lesson for us is that God does not want us to love Him with just “parts” of our being, but rather, will ALL our being. Greg Laurie gives a simple summary of Jesus’ command—love God with every fiber of your being.
Loving with all our heart, soul, and mind comes from our inward being. Loving God with all our strength is the physical excursion we put forth expressing the inward. Paul warned do not grow weary of doing good (2Th 3:13). We express our inward love through our physical body, which requires strength. In the Law, God required that Israel give ten percent of their income and give Him one day out of seven. Yet, He wants ALL of our love.
Sustaining Word for the Week: Throughout this New Year, ask yourself, “Am I loving God with ALL my heart, soul, mind and strength?”