Love the Lord Your God with All Your Heart

In Matthew 22:34-35, Jesus is being tested by the Pharisees, asking him which commandment is the greatest. Not which of the Ten Commandments, but which of all the commandments in Torah – those first five books of the Old Testament. Torah has 613 commands according to Jewish tradition.

Jesus answers them by quoting Scripture. Specifically, part of the Shema, the prayer that all devout Jews are to recite daily. The part that Jesus quotes to the Pharisees is part 3 of the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:5 - “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Deuteronomy actually says “might” instead of “mind”).

Love God with your heart, soul, and mind. What is the biblical meaning of love? There are several Greek words representing different aspects of love. Eros generally has to do with sexual love, a word never found in the New Testament. Philia was the word for genuine affection – heartfelt love – brotherly love like Jesus had for the disciple he loved best - John. The noblest form of love, however, was agape. William Barclay, says this about agape love – “Agape has to do with the mind: it is not simply an emotion which rises unbidden in our hearts; it is a principle by which we deliberately live.” It’s action.

Biblical love is the active response of the faithful person TO the love of God. To love God with all of one’s heart, and soul, and mind, is to choose to respond to God as God responds to us.

Love God by being in relationship with Him; by knowing that everything, everything, comes from him. Praise God. Spend time every day offering praise to God for the ways he has called you, nurtured you, strengthened you and worked miracles in your life. “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.”

Love God by offering Thanksgiving to Him. Take time every day to thank God for the many blessings in your life. Thank God for how He has been present to you through all the joys and sorrows of your life. “It is good to give thanks to the Lord.”

Love God by confessing your sins and asking God’s forgiveness. Take time every day to confess to God those personal and relational sins that burden your soul. Lay before God the feelings of anger and hurt that may be weighing on you. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.”

Love God by praying for all the needs in your lives. Spiritual, emotional, and physical needs. Take time every day to simply rest in the blessings of the Lord in your life. Think about times when you have felt the powerful presence of God lifting you up and times when you basked in the sheer joy of the life that God has provided you. “Let us pray for our own needs as well as the needs of others.”

Honoring, praising, blessing, imploring, worshiping – these are all forms of devotion to God. We love God by keeping Him at the center of our own lives. We love with our heart: through generosity to God’s people. Give until it feels good. We love with our soul: by worshiping God and praying for our neighbors and ourselves. When we love God’s people, we are always, at the same time, loving God. And we love with our minds: studying God’s Word and letting it correct us, enlighten us, and send us out in loving action to the world.

When you read the rest of the Deuteronomy verse that Jesus quotes to the Pharisees – it says this: 6 Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. 7 Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. 8 Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem [b] on your forehead, 9 and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

In other words, this is it this is all you really need to know – but remember it! Keep these words in your hearts. Teach them to your children. Pray about them morning and night. Write them on your hand; staple them to your forehead. Write them on your door.”

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself.:” The rest is just commentary! Amen