MARK 12:30
30. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31. And the second is like, namely this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. KJV
How can I express something too great for words? Help me Lord Jesus!
There are 4 categories that we are to love the Lord with. They are:
- Heart
- Soul
- Mind
- Strength
If you love someone or thing, it becomes centered in your thoughts and life. Your life revolves around them. It is so very important to you that you connect with who or what you love. If you love tea, chances are you will not spend time with coffee. If you like dogs you probably will not own a horse. If you like small cars, you will not spend your money on a big one. If you hate liver, you will not spend your money on liver.
The Lord knows us. He knows if we love Him more than anything. He is using the scriptures to show us what is in our hearts. How do we love Him first? What is the difference between the heart and soul?
I am not an expert. I look up the words and pray. The heart has to do with our feelings inside. Our feelings can get hurt to the point of a broken heart.
The soul means breath. It has to do with the life within us and how we use what we have been given.
The mind has to do with the intellect, our thoughts, imagination and understanding. We have the choice to learn about the Lord and His Word. We have the choice to spend time getting to know Him and drawing near to Him. That is how you get to know another person.
How do we use the strength we’ve been given? What do we seek after? What do spend our strength on pursuing? How much time do we give to the Lord to give to Him all of our heart, mind and soul?
This scripture is telling us the most important thing He wants us to do is love Him with all of our life, with all that we are and with all that we have been given. That would mean that there is no time left for the rest of this world.
He knows we have responsibilities, but we must pursue them with Him in front. If we do it His way everything will come out eventually right. And He will cause our hearts to love others the right way.
We have to always remember that He will supply our every need. We cannot do things perfectly. We need His strength, love and righteousness to get through this life. We cannot come to Him based on our own goodness but on His. We claim His promise for all our needs daily based on all that He is and always will be. He loves us with all that He is. It is only fair to Him that we do the same.
Thank You Jesus!
Yes, Wenda, I have seen these scriptures to say exactly what you see in them.
Our affections are a reflection of the way we divert our strengths, or what we pursue.
I’ve learned that we must love God completely, and it shows God what we really are when we walk the way we do.
Thank you for this reminder.
Blessings
Thank you for the encouragement. That one is a hard one because it is so special. I just cannot do it justice! I am so glad someone agrees!