Recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, we have these words of Jesus who reiterated the greatest commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (22:37).
It is not unusual for a person to struggle with loving God. Because of the Fall, the natural impulse of a person of maturity is to run from God because there is a consciousness of sin. There is a dawning and sickening awareness that a Moral Law of the Universe has been broken. Once broken, there is a natural fear of retribution. God is holy. We are not. There is a dread of facing God for it has been said the soul that sins shall die.
Rather than run to God, confess sin, and repent, the heart of the natural man would rather suppress the truth about self to the point that evil is justified. Paul speaks of how individuals know the truth, they know God exists, they know the Moral Law of God has been broken, but they prefer to hold down that truth. Professing themselves to be wise, they become fools (Romans 1:21).
Nevertheless, where sin abounds, grace does much more abound. So great is the grace of God it is designed to elicit love, not out of compulsion, but out of a response of gratitude and appreciation. Despite the Fall, it is possible to have fellowship with God once more through the redemptive work of Christ.
Beyond that, the renewed man is commanded to love God with all one’s heart. That is possible only when there is a right understanding of God. What a person thinks about God will determine their response to Him.
The best way to view God is to see Him as He is revealed in Scripture, not as men imagine Him to be. Consider the following.
God is a Creative God. “In the beginning God created” (Gen. 1:1). God created the universe. God created all creatures, great and small. God created you personally, in His likeness, and in His image with intellect, will, and emotions. Each person is fearfully and wonderfully made by God. With Jeremiah the prophet, every person can hear God say, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” (Jer. 1:5). It was God that forms our inward parts. It is God who knits us together in our mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13). God is a creative God.
God is a Recreative God. Though made in the image of God, man has marred that image through sin. Sin is a transgression of the will of God. Sin is a deliberate act of rebellion against the Lord. Sin is rooted in a desire to be like God with power in order to satisfy personal pleasure. The heart of man needs to be made again. This renewal of the heart is called regeneration, and is effected by the Spirit.
“Not by works of
righteousness which we have done,
but according to his mercy he saved us,
by the washing of regeneration,
and renewing of the Holy Ghost.”
Titus 3:5
“And the vessel that he
made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter:
so he made it again another vessel,
as seemed good to the potter to make it.”Jeremiah 18:4
God is a loving God. Time and again the love of God is affirmed in Scripture. On the Cross, Jesus cried out, “I love you.”
“For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.”
John 3:16
“For God sent not his Son
into the world to condemn the world
but that the world through him might be saved.”John 3:17
It is the conscience of a person that condemns. It is the gracious work of the Spirit to convict. But it is the love of God that saves and removes all condemnation in Christ Jesus.
“There is therefore now
no condemnation to them
which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit.”Romans 8:1
The practical problem is the challenge of walking after the Spirit. Where the Spirit leads, the heart must vow to follow.
I can hear my Savior calling,
I can hear my Savior calling,
I can hear my Savior calling,
“Take thy cross and follow, follow Me.”Where He leads me I will follow,
where He leads me I will follow,
where He leads me I will follow,
I’ll go with Him, with Him all the way.~Ernest William Blandly
God is a merciful God. Because God knows how weak marred vessels are, because God loves sinners, He is a merciful God. He will not destroy those who love Him.
“Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
Psalms 23:6
Despite the grace, love, and mercy of God, the honest heart of a Christian realizes there is still much evil in the soul. Evil is defined as injurious behavior to self and others. Often, at the moment of temptation, there is a beautiful side to evil compelling the will to comply with that which immediately brings shame, regret, and the death of close fellowship with God. But that is not the end of the matter. The devil pays in full.
Sin robs the heart of assurance of salvation.
Sin causes a person self-loathing, if the heart is sensitive.
Sin makes a person want to abandon prayer, Bible study, and the Church.
Sin sooths the convicted heart by making it as hard as a rock, and just as indifferent to goodness. Evil words can be smoothly spoken, and morally despicable deeds done as easily as water flowing over a smooth stone.
When the heart of a believer is brought under conviction there is often a pattern that is followed: sorrow, confession, an effort to be good, temptation, repetition of wrongful behavior. Sometimes there is victory in a particular spiritual battle with sin, but it seems the war is lost, especially if there is addictive behavior.
Since Satan is a counterfeiter in all matters relating to God, a question can be asked of God. “Father, is there an emotion equal too or stronger than for the sensual pleasures of the flesh and the attraction of the world?”
Thankfully, there is a divine answer. It consists of one word, love. We are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind (Matt. 22:37). If we would be free from the power of sin to love God, then we must find that power in the blood of Christ.
“Would you be free from the burden of sin?
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood.
Would you o’er evil a victory win?
There’s wonderful power in the blood.There is power, power, wonder-working power
in the blood of the Lamb;
there is power, power, wonder-working power
in the precious blood of the Lamb.Would you be free from your passion and pride?
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood.
Come for a cleansing to Calvary’s tide.
There’s wonderful power in the blood.Would you be whiter, much whiter than snow?
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood.
Sin-stains are lost in its life-giving flow;
there’s wonderful power in the blood.”~Lewis E. Jones
As important as the life of Christ is, our heart needs more than a moral example. We need the blood of Christ. We need a Savior.
“In times like these, we need a Savior.
In times like these, we need an anchor.
Be very sure, be very sure,
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!”~Ruth Caye Jones
If God is merciful to us, He will not give us up to a reprobate mind. If we are wise, we will respond to such grace by actually loving God with all of our heart. The command is not to seek to love God; the imperative is “thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matt. 22:37-40).
In order to comply with this commandment of Christ, several actions have to be taken.
First, there must be a commitment to obey the known will of God on every matter on which He has spoken. Love is a verb. Love is an action word. Love is do what God would have us to do.
Second, there must be a cultivation of the emotions. The longest book in the Bible is the Book of Psalms. There is a reason for this. Songs honor God. Music draws the soul closer to God. Music transcends time and space to touch the Eternal One. “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, sing and make melody in your heart to the Lord (Eph. 5:19). The object of the songs we sing is the Lord. Music that is self centered is not glorifying to God.
To God be the glory, great things He hath done,
so loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
who yielded His life an atonement for sin,
and opened the life-gate that all may go in.Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father through Jesus the Son,
and give Him the glory, great things He hath done.O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,
to ev’ry believer the promise of God;
the vilest offender who truly believes,
that moment from Jesus a pardon receives.Great things He hath taught us, great things He hath done,
and great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son;
but purer, and higher, and greater will be
our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.~Fanny Crosby
Third, if a person is to love God with all their heart, soul, and mind” then Scripture must be memorized and mediated on.
The value of memorizing Scripture is that there will be less sin in one’s life. “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11).
The value of meditating on Scripture is to find delight in the Law of the Lord. The more a person feeds on manna from heaven, the stronger and heartier the person shall be.
The value of meditating on Scripture is to remember the goodness of God and how His mercies are renewed each day. A great injury is done to a relationship when past acts of kindness are forgotten or not acknowledge. Oh how often we as Christians forget the Lord.
“The things that I love, And hold dear to my heart.
Are just borrowed, they’re not mine at all.
Jesus only let me use them, to brighten my day.
So remind me, remind me, dear LordRoll back the curtains, of memory now and then.
Show me where you brought me from,And where I might have been.
Remember, I’m human, and humans forget.
So remind Me, remind me dear Lord.Nothing good have I done, to deserve God’s own Son.
I’m so unworthy, of the nail prints in His hands.
Yet He chose the way to Calvary, To die in my stead.
Why He loved me, I just don’t understand.”~Dottie Rambo
Fourthly, to love God with all one’s heart, soul, and mind, there must be an accurate understanding and mental image of who He is and what He is like. Fortunately, God has revealed Himself in human history so there is no need to speculate about His essence. What is needed is to see God as holy, and altogether love. Until the heart can call Him, “Abba,” a spirit of terror will dominate the soul thereby destroying intimacy. It is just not possible to love someone who is believed out to destroy them.
However, the choice is not binary, either love God or be terrified by Him. There is another option. That is to love God with all one’s mind, soul, and heart to the point the heart trembles when love is offended.
A relationship that is rooted in fear of hurting the One who is loved is a viable alternative to a relationship rooted in a hopeless attempt to please, resulting in a life of terror of banishment accompanied by physical and mental torture.
A person will rise no higher in their relationship with God than what is believed about Him. Therefore, let every believer be assured that God is love (John 3:16).
God is gracious (Eph. 2:8,9).
God is merciful (Titus 3:5).
God is forgiving, seventy times seven, and more.
God is worthy of awe and respect, because He is holy. Because God is righteous He is to be feared, but godly fear is rooted in a desire to please the Lord by keeping His commandments, singing His praises, and meditating on Him.
In the day of Judgment, when Jesus asks, “Did you love with all your heart, soul, and mind,” the answer can be, “Yes!” “Yes Lord, I did love the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”
