We return to where we started this series of blogs, that is, with the “Shema.”  The Shema is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and quoted by Jesus in Matthew 22:37.

Matthew 22:36-37 (ESV)
³⁶  “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷  And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” 

Loving God with our heart is to love Him affectionately.  God wants to see an emotional response in us when we think of Him, worship Him, or serve Him in any capacity.  In other words, He does not want us to be like lifeless robots.

Are we not emotional when we think of those we love here on earth?  You husbands and wives reading this blog, you do not love your spouse with a robotic kind of love, do you?  There are many married couples today who are in loveless marriages.  That must be a terrible life.  None of us who are married would want to be in a relationship like that.  Why would we think that God does?

While we want to avoid emotionalism (allowing our emotions to determine what is right instead of the Word of God), we also want to avoid an emotionless, non-feeling relationship with God as well.

What does it mean to love God with all our soul?  The word soul, while it can be used in several ways, often refers to the animated life of the body (Genesis 2:7).  In this sense, to love God with all our soul is to love Him by our life, or I might say, by our living.  We do not prove our love for God by being idle in the Lord; we prove it by being active.  There are too many brethren who claim to love God, but they are sitting on the sidelines of Christianity, never participating in the game.  If we love God, it will be seen in our daily lives.

We must also love God with all our minds. There is a close connection between loving God with our hearts and loving Him with our minds.  The word heart in the Bible is often referring to the mind, that is, the intellectual part of our being.  The truth is, it is because of what we know intellectually that can and should prompt us to be affectionate toward God.  We know that God was willing to sacrifice His Son so that we might live.  What does that knowledge do?  It causes us to love Him.

1 John 4:10 (ESV)
¹⁰  In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 

Since loving God is intellectual, based on what God has done for us, we show our love for Him by our appreciation for all that He has done for us.  There are not too many things that God is irritated by more than people who fail to be thankful for the love that He has shown them.  How often do you thank God for the many blessings of life that He has given to you?  Remember, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights…” (James 1:17).  When we consistently acknowledge this, we are showing God that we love Him.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.