Loving God
“Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?”
He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. – Matthew 22:36-38 (CSB)
“From the viewpoint of biblical anthropology, “heart,” “soul,” and “mind” (v.37) are not mutually exclusive but overlapping categories, together demanding our love for God to come from our whole person, our every faculty and capacity.” -D A Carson
God makes obedience to the greatest command simple, because the command itself is simple. It is not the complexity that stops us from obedience, it is our fickle affections. We love God but, to love Him first and foremost is to push aside all other competing beings or desires. The challenge to this begins closest to home- with ourselves. We love ourselves, and our way and our desires more than we love God. This is demonstrated by our willful disobedience. We do what we want, justifying our actions or outright ignoring God’s ways. From this primary battlefield, there are lots of other skirmishes for our love which belongs first and foremost to God. Other people often compete with our devotion to God, pulling us down wayward paths or simply leading to us treasuring them more than God. Tasks can become distractions to us, gobbling up our attention and time, as we forget to do the one thing most needful. Objects, even though they have no life outside of themselves, can also pull us away from our primary mission. This then is why obedience to the greatest commandment is complex. How can you or I hope to diagnose what is keeping me from obedience? Where do we begin to do the work of repentance and growing in our love for God? Here’s what I would advise: take time to sit with this question: “What is the one thing keeping me from loving God as I should?” I believe that if we allow the Holy Spirit space and time to speak to us about this He will. He is far more patient in our change process than often we are. He is glad to help you take the next step (and the one after that too). Don’t be overwhelmed by your shortcoming in loving God with all of your all. Instead, lean in to the work of God to enable you to love Him better. He is faithful to keep growing you and your love for Him.