And you shall 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
God requires us to love him with our entire being. He does not want us to love Him partially. He does not want us to serve two masters! Either you love Him or you don't. There are four areas where our love for God is expressed:
1. Heart: The heart is the seat of emotions. If we sincerely love God, our affections will be on the things above. Our desire to do right in secret and in the open will come naturally to us. Just as the heart pumps blood to every part of our body, the love of God should permeate every areas of our lives. In our dealings with our neighbors, we will do the right thing. In our talk, we would not curse, slander, or backbite. We will not bring down others but we will uplift them with the word of God. God is love and in Him there is no guile, therefore, there must be no guile in us. We must be plain, upright, honest, and free from hypocrisy. We must be open to conviction by the Holy Spirit, who helps us to discern the thoughts and intents of God for our lives.
2. Soul: The soul is the self or "I". It is that which gives life to the body. Our ability to see and hear, to think and speak, our intelligence and emotions, will and desire, personality and identity, is due to the presence of the soul. It is the engine of this physical life. Since the soul is the seat of will and desire, you can choice to be fully committed to God in your faith. You can choose to yield your soul to God by uniting it with His. When you love God with all your soul, it means that you have decided to align your will, desire, identity, personality, and your intellect, with His. You have allowed God's image to be your image just us He created it to be. In all you do, you begin to ask yourself what would Christ have done in any situation you find yourself? When you love God will all your soul, you make wise decisions in life. The soul is God's breath in you. A person who loves God with all the soul can say with the hymn writer, Edwin Hatch,
1. Breathe on me, Breath of God,
fill me with life anew,
that I may love what thou dost love,
and do what thou wouldst do.
2. Breathe on me, Breath of God,
until my heart is pure,
until with thee I will one will,
to do and to endure.
3. Breathe on me, Breath of God,
till I am wholly thine,
till all this earthly part of me
glows with thy fire divine.
When you love God with all your soul, you love whatever God loves and do what God would do. Your heart is pure and your will is God's will. The self is subjected to the direction of God and you glow with divine fire. You begin to walk in the counsel of God and whatever you do, you prosper because it is the will of God.
1Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Psalm 1:1-3
|
3. Mind: This is the part or faculty of a person by which one feels, perceives, thinks, remembers, desires, and imagines. Do you proclaim to love God outwardly, yet in your mind, you belittle Him. You don't believe that He is the "I AM THAT I AM." When you love God with your all mind, you see Him as an infinite God; a God of impossibilities and possibilities. He is a God of all things and not somethings. When you love God with all your mind, your meditate upon His word day and night. Your mind is saturated with his word. You wake up with Him on your mind and sleep with Him on your mind. The mind is the playing ground for he devil as well. It is therefore important to saturate it with God's word if you love Him. If you love God, you will hand over the mind to Him.
4. Strength: Loving God with all your strength means been steadfast, forceful, firm and resolved to serve Him regardless of the circumstances. It is a determination to love Him no matter what comes your way. In good times and bad times, rain or shine, in poverty or riches, you will not deny Him. Job loved God with all his heart, soul, mind, and all his strength.
May you find grace today 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." Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment