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Love God

February 2, 2018

 

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. —Deuteronomy 6:4-5

This Scripture provides an uplifting Word we need to hear. You see, the Lord isn’t looking for us to be perfect; He wants us to do our best and love Him with everything we have.

First, let us define what it means to love someone, as this is at the heart of our question. The concept of love that is spoken of here is essential, it is a particular kind of love described by the Greek word ‘agape’. It does not just mean some transient feeling of affection or desire towards someone or something, but is far deeper than that. ‘Agape’ love is a self-giving love and implies not just a desire or feeling, but a decision of the will to be committed to someone or something. It is a love that endures even when times are difficult, and involves a total commitment on the part of the one who is loving another.

This is the kind of love that God has for us. Jesus says that we should love God with all our heart, soul and mind, but what does this mean? An easy way to answer this is to say that Jesus means that we should love God with everything that we are. Both the heart and soul especially have to do with the very centre of our lives as human beings – they are where our life springs from, and therefore, there should not be an area of our lives that isn’t touched by this command.

We are to commit everything to God and bring everything under His control, giving ourselves to Him entirely for the rest of our lives. If you have a great desire to love God with all that you are, with your heart, soul, and mind, let me urge you not just to try harder but to soak yourself in the love of God for you.

Let us pray…

Dear Lord, whenever something happens in my life and I don’t understand, I cling to what I do know I know that you love me. You have a plan for me. Thank you, Lord, for your unconditional love. I am blessed to have you in my life. Amen.