Today’s Scripture: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment.” (Matt. 22:37-38)
Not only am I to love God exclusively—He is to have no rivals in my life; and not only am I to worship God passionately—He is to be my primary pursuit. Jesus also says in this verse that I am to glorify God fully in my life, with all of my heart, all of my soul, and with all of my mind. This does not mean that our love for God is to be compartmentalized, but rather speaks of comprehensiveness. I am to love God with every fiber of my being. It means that I seek to glorify God in every hidden area of my life as well as those areas that are in plain view.
First, I am to glorify God with all of my HEART. The word ‘heart’ refers to the core of one’s personal being. This speaks of the seat of personality, the real you. I am love God down deep in the very core of my being. I seek to glorify Him not in merely a surface and superficial way, but deep down in the fiber of who I am as a person. Since we are sinful by nature, how is this kind of love even possible? The Bible says:
Ezekiel 36:25-26—“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
Left up to our own, we are unable to love and glorify God. At salvation, God gives us a heart capable of loving Him. He gives us a new heart with new desires. He places His own Spirit within the believer.
Second, I am to glorify God with all of my SOUL. This refers to the seat of our emotions. This is the same word that Jesus used in the Garden of Gethsemane when He said, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death.” Rather than letting my emotions run wild and unchecked, I am to glorify God through my emotions. Some people try to separate all emotion from worship. Yet keep in mind that Jesus in in John 4 that the Father is seeking those who worship Him in spirit and in truth. The deepest part of my soul is to be involved in glorifying God.
Third, I am to glorify God with all of my MIND. This speaks of willful and intentional vigor and determination, carrying both the meaning of mental endeavor and strength. It is not lazy. Taken together, all of these mean that authentic love for God is intentional, willing, and serving. It involves thought, sensitivity, intent, and even action where possible and appropriate. It does not consist of empty words or empty ritual. God desires the person, not simply what the person possesses. By the way, if He has the person, He inevitably will have all that the person possesses as well.
Today, focus on loving God exclusively, worshiping God passionately, and glorifying God fully.