Matthew 22:37-38
Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
When I ponder on this Scripture, I really wonder what does that actually mean.. Or rather what does that type of love look like?
In this season of my life.. God is doing a new thing, but he never ceases to express his love for me or to teach me how to love him deeper. I’m realizing that my love for him is a broken type love. Let me explain.
David says in Psalm 51:17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit ; a broken and contrite heart you, God will not despise.
Every time I think I got things right.. God bends me and reminds me really quickly that I need him and that if I take my eyes off him for a mili second, I won’t make it. That’s where his grace comes in. He knows that I’m imperfect and broken and weak, so he presents his grace which covers me. It blankets me and he becomes strong within me.
Valentine’s day is today. But this time around, God wants all of me. He doesn’t.. Well he has always wanted center stage in my heart. I’ve always tried to give him that.. But I’m not always successful.
I’ve realized that God will stop at nothing to consume me. It may sound crazy.. But why wouldn’t we want to be consumed by all the goodness God contains?
Imagine a field full of all your favorite sweet treats and instead of them hurting you.. They only filled you up and produced unlimited happiness and contentment.
Well that’s how it feels to love God with all your heart, mind and soul. His love for us is so exclusive..He wants us to return the same back.
It won’t always be easy. But God will help you if you ask.
So, still you may be wondering what does it look like to Love God with your mind, heart and soul?
Well.. With our mind, it means that every thought is devoted to glorifying him. And when you begin to think of something negative, you cast that thought away and ask the Lord to replace it. The mind is very powerful, so we are to be mindful of what we allow in it. Once the enemy plants something.. Our attention can easily be displaced from the Lord.
Loving with all our ❤️ looks like when your whole being yields to him. That would be your desires, your passion, your affections, your perception and your thoughts are aligned. Now this too can be difficult because once our heart is set on something, we become determined. So we must guard our heart above all else, for it is what determines our steps.
The next one may be hard to understand.. But it really is simple. To love God with all our soul would be displayed by our actions, in our speech, how we live our life, what we do with our gifts and talents, how we use our hands.. And even how we react to everyday obstacles.
Hey… I know this love seems impossible.. But guess what.. It isn’t. To consciously love this way is to intentional and mindful. Jesus is our example. Though he was both God and man.. He still showed us how we are to love.
Today, Valentine’s day, I chose to do something that I felt honored God and showed how much I loved him. I had in mind that I was doing this for him.. But as usual he showed me that it was more for myself to see him.
I climbed Rabun Bald, the second tallest mountain in Georgia. I love trails and walking and God knows it. So when holy spirit dropped the idea to go mountain hiking, I knew who to ask. I literally have one friend that I’m grateful to climb mountains with.
The climb was steep, it was cold and the worst part was the ground was wet. But, that didn’t stop us.
I was quiet most of the journey because I like to hear the Lord speak.
I could see that this mountain was not like the others which had signs and more scenery. This trail depicted so well where I am currently in my life.. The exact season. I could feel myself wanting to give up.. But I could feel God pushing me and guiding me even tho there were so few indicators of being on the right path.
I had to commit everything to him. My heart, my mind, my all. Only he knew how far the journey was to the very top. All I could do was trust him. No trail map, few indicators on trees, just rocks, wet land, feet treading, and anticipation.
When I finally got to top.. There was so much fog that our view was clouded. The longer we sat at the fire tower at 4,695ft, God began to clear the fog and shine the sun on us.
If I had allowed the negative thoughts to win my mind over, I would’ve lost my passion to reach the top.
God showed so much of who he is to me while climbing up and when I got to the end. He also revealed pieces of me to myself.
It’s in those moments on mountains that I can hear him the loudest and clearest.
I’m so glad to know such Love. Just being able to enjoy his creations shows his love for me enough.
Everything but him fades away when I’m able to feel his presence in that environment. I’m able to let his love consume me and reciprocate it back.
Those are moments we are too hang onto and use to press into his presence. For me it’s the mountain top, for you it may be in the shower or in your closet.
Loving God with everything is have is a command and the won’t always get it right.. But we should never stop pursuing him.
I hope everyone had a lovely Valentine’s day. And if no one told you they love you, our you don’t have a significant other.. Jesus is all of ours. He has committed his whole life to loving us.. Unconditionally! And with him.. He loves us daily, not just on a holiday. We owe it to him to Love him exclusively with everything we have, Everyday! 😎💕
WarriorofGod 