“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul…” DEUTERONOMY 6:5
What does it mean to love God with all your heart and soul?
Love God with all your heart. Love God with all your affection. Don’t ever think of your salvation as some kind of business transaction in which Jesus does certain things and you do certain things, and it is all settled with a simple handshake.
Christ shed His blood for you, and He did this because He loves you. The relationship He brings you into is one in which you know Him and come increasingly to love Him.
The heart is more than feelings—never less, but always more. In Hebrew, heart includes the mind, will, desire, and motive. Your thinking, feeling, and desiring are all done in your heart.
We often think of the head and the heart as two different departments that have trouble communicating: “Should
I go with my head or my heart?” But when Jesus quoted these words, He added the word mind, making it clear that the head is included in the heart. So, to love God with all your heart means to love Him with all that is in you.
Love God with all your soul. The word soul could also be translated “life.” Love the Lord with all your energy, with all your ability, and with all your years. Make commitments that will deploy what God has given you in ways that show you love Him.
People see that you love your family, your work, and your sports. What are you doing that makes it obvious that you love Jesus?
Written by Colin Smith
Read by Sue McLeish
www.openthebible.org.uk
