Loving God with All You’ve Got
You love your favorite pillow, warm showers, and sunny days. You can love God too, right? Click To TweetHe answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’;and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Luke 10:27 NIV
Happy Valentine’s Day! As we come to the conclusion of the Luke 10:27 Challenge, let’s examine how our love for God compares to romantic love. It’s simple really, isn’t it? Just love God with all you’ve got. You love your coffee, your chocolate, your DIY projects, and great books. You love your favorite pillow, warm showers, sunny days, and your spouse. You can love God too, right?
God asks us to take it a step farther. We don’t just get to love God, but we have to love him with our heart, soul, strength, and mind? That’s a lot of loving! In light of Valentine’s Day, let’s break down this love thing and see how our love for God compares to romantic love…
Loving God with All Your Heart
When you love God with all your heart, your thoughts and feelings get involved. It’s kind of like the warm, fuzzy stage of a relationship. You think about God and perhaps even daydream a little bit. (Not in a creepy kind of way! Maybe you start dreaming about the way things would be if you truly let God live out His will in your life.)
Loving God with All Your Soul
When you love God with all your soul, you love Him with everything that you are. You long to connect with God on a deeper level. You want to know everything you can about Him and you want to be fully known. Your desire is for true intimacy.
Loving God with All Your Strength
When you love God with all your strength, you are committed. You are determined stay the course and make the relationship work. You put effort into the relationship. You might actually be willing to wake up a few minutes to have some alone time together. You work towards changing the areas where God is convicting you.
Loving God with All Your Mind
When you love God with all your mind, you work to know who He is. You aren’t blindly in love anymore. You know God and you choose to love Him anyway. Your faith doesn’t make you use your mind any less. It actually encourages you to consider how God plays an integral part in the world around you.
To Sum It All Up…
You’ve got to love God with all you’ve got. It’s plain and simple..but it’s not. Loving God is like being in every stage of a romantic love at the same time. The good news is that we serve a patient and loving God. He doesn’t ask us to do anything that He doesn’t do Himself. He loves us with all His heart, soul, mind, and strength. Think on that for a minute! Then go away feeling LOVED!
How do you think love for God compares to romantic love?
I’m linking up @: Modest Mom Blog, Mama Moments Mondays, Making Your Home Sing Monday, and Mommy Monday Blog Hop.
Terri says
I really enjoyed reading this. I also really love how you broke it down to mini themes like: Loving with your mind etc.
admin says
Thank you. I hope you come back to read more soon!
Jennifer DeFrates/Heaven not Harvard says
I think this is a verse that will have an air of mystery until I reach heaven as I understand God and his love more and more as I grow and realize how much left there is to know.
Jennifer DeFrates/Heaven not Harvard recently posted…Abiding Love
Stargazer says
This is truly inspiring. Please keep this up.
admin says
Thank you so much. That is very encouraging!
Ally J Brown says
I have never really thought of loving God from this angle before. I think its great that you have pointed this out because Christ is our Bridegroom and His bride is the church-we are the church. We expect to love our husbands with everything we have wel than why not God?
#againstallhope
Ally J Brown recently posted…Why I Will Stay Catholic ( even though the world thinks I’m foolish)
Sheri says
Daydreaming about God. I love that idea. I am becoming increasingly faithful in the work he is doing with and through me!
admin says
That’s awesome! Keep it up!
Carol Cassara says
What an interesting comparison and so appropriate for this season. Perhaps perfecting love for God is what prepares us for romantic love.
Carol Cassara recently posted…What we don’t know
Mary Collins says
Great breakdown of how we are to love God. I believe if we all pour as much energy as we do with romantic love with a human being, into our relationship with God, there would be no limits to what we can do.
Mary Collins recently posted…Marvelous Mondays for Free Books–February 15, 2016
Caroline @ In Due Time says
Love Him with EVERYTHING! Whew. So true and so convicting and definitely something I need to work on!
Caroline @ In Due Time recently posted…1 John 4:19 – He Loved First #121
Kristen says
There’s so much wrapped up in all of the greek words for love, and we only have one word in English. It’s sad, really. Loving God with ALL of what we have to give is so hard, but so rewarding when his spirit intervenes.
andrea says
God’s love doesn’t change for anything – it stays forever and ever!
andrea recently posted…BJs Wholesale Club, Organics, And Me
MELISASource says
This is a fantastic post! It’s amazing that one of the most key parts of faith is the part that can be so difficult to grasp. Excellent work!
MELISASource recently posted…Watch: Queen Latifah and Mom Share Story of Fight Against Heart Failure #HFWeek #GoRedSTL
Inez says
This is a great breakdown! You’re right, simple to understand… not so simple to do! Thank you!
angie says
Great post I very much appreciated reading it
come see us at http://shopannies.blogspot.com
Clare Speer says
Great analysis of how we love God….God’s love for us is unconditional…. and that is differently from “romantic love” because we all put “conditions” on our love for one another as human beings! Great post!
Jessica Harlow says
I think this is an interesting concept and have never really compared these two kinds of love. I do think we are capable of several different ways of loving.
Jessica Harlow recently posted…Shopathome.com lets you earn cash back when you shop!
Cathy says
I love this verse, and I love how vast and wide and deep Christ’s love is for us!
Cathy
Cathy recently posted…Apple Dessert Recipes
Brianna L. George (@BriannaLGeorge) says
Any love we give is purely an overflow of his love for us. We can not love without understanding and receiving HIS perfect love. 🙂
Brianna L. George (@BriannaLGeorge) recently posted…Why I Embrace Vulnerability to Write Hard Things
Anna Clarke says
Excellent and simple way of explaining what this verse means for believers. Thank you for blessing me with this tonight!
Anna Clarke recently posted…Valentine’s Day | Pop of Color
Jasmine Watts says
This is an interesting concept and have never really think about it! Excellent work!
Jed says
Hey Tara,
You are right. The word love can be used in so many different ways, and mean different things. Thank you for the reminder that loving God something that we must do with our whole being. I certainly want my love for Christ to outweigh my love for my favorite pillow 🙂 Wishing you a blessed week!
Jed recently posted…How to Preserve The Gift Of Being a Blended Family
Lisa Rios says
Such a beautiful post & I loved reading every part of it. I agree when you love God with all your heart & souls you are going to deeply connected with his love & care towards you. Thanks for inspiring.
Victoria @ Creative Home Keeper says
Love God with all we have… what a powerful and true reminder! I loved this post, thanks for sharing!
Victoria @ Creative Home Keeper recently posted…5 Books to Help Grow Your Marriage