Jesus tells us in Matthew 22 that the first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, and mind. When Jesus was making this declaration, He was making reference to the Shema which all of His listeners in the day were completely familiar with.
Hear, O Israel. The Lord is God. The Lord is One. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Deuteronomy 6:4-5
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. Matthew 22:37-38
In this blog I would like to focus on the aspect of loving with all of your heart. But what is it like to really love with your whole heart? And why is this so important to God?
Volumes of books and commentaries have been written on this topic but I would like to take a lesson from a 5 year old. Recently, I was given a profound lesson in what loving with a whole heart looks like from my granddaughter Leah. We were together recently playing whatever game or activity she wanted to play. During our time together she all of sudden hits me with this statement: “Papa, I love you with my whole heart!” It’s hard to put into words how I felt in that moment to hear this beautiful little granddaughter of mine make such a declaration about me and our relationship together. I think I was like the Grinch, whose heart grew 3 times its size in the story. I just felt my heart bursting with love and joy. I put my arms around her and told her that I loved her with all of my heart too.
I love Leah with all of my heart or at least as much as this imperfect heart can. When she told me she loved me in that way my heart just melted. It opened up another layer of intimacy as we shared that moment together. Is it possible that God wants our wholehearted love? Is the reason behind the greatest commandment, that God wants this kind of love relationship with us?
Sometimes we can think of commands as things we have to do or we will be punished. In that way commands are done because we have to or else! God’s commands can be like that but they are more so that His commands are for our good, they lead to life, and they draw us ever so close to a Father who loves us with all of His heart.
How did it get to the point for Leah to love with her whole heart? As I reflected on my experience with Leah, the Lord showed me three things He wants me to focus on in loving Him with a whole heart.
Time
It is really hard to love someone wholeheartedly if we never spend time with them. It is also hard if on those occasions that we do have together that we are distracted or we are together out of obligation or duty. What makes my time with Leah so special is just being together. Sometimes there may be a planned event but most often its just time together.
It is the same with God. One of the things that has taken me a while to fully grasp is God wanting to just be with me. Sure, times of Bible Study, Prayer, Scripture Memory, and Service to others are key components in our discipleship. But just as important, our Father delights in being with us. If I, an imperfect and sinful person, can experience such delight in my relationship with Leah, imagine what God might experience with us as we spend time with Him.
Zephaniah 3:17, “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness.”
Trust
A second aspect that struck me about my time with Leah is that Leah fully trusts me. She knows I will be there for her and that she is completely safe to be herself. She may not know it yet but she has experienced that all that I do for her is for her good and out of an abundance of love for her.
You can’t really love with a whole heart if you don’t trust the person you with whom you are relating. Loving wholeheartly is risky, it’s vulnerable, its surrendering yourself into the hands of another trusting they will love you appropriately. Proverbs 3:5-6 says:
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
John Trent has written extensively on marriage and has this comment on trust in this verse:
“One of the Old Testament words for trust (batach) has a meaning of “careless.” Think about it: When you trust your spouse, you feel so safe that you are careless—or free of concern—with him or her. You don’t have to hide who you are or be self-protective.”
Leah enjoys our time together as if she does not have a care in the world. She does not have to hide who she is or protect herself. She is free to be the person God created her to be. This is the same with God. God is completely trustworthy and we can be “careless” before Him. We can be completely free and totally honest and vulnerable with Him and we can trust He will never leave us or forsake us. We may need some correction and discipline, even Leah experiences that from time to time, but all from a place of unconditional love.
Today
One of the things God has been working on me over the past few years is to learn to be fully present in the moment, not dwelling on things of the past or worries, events, and plans of the future. When I am with Leah, I find myself fully present in that moment, just delighting in being with her. Some days we do have events to look forward to, but most of it is time just being together. Today is all that matters in that moment.
Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:34
Jesus invites us to focus on today; to enjoy being in His presence as we go throughout our day. It is so tempting to live event to event or look for experiences. We can learn that being in His presence in this moment is more than enough.
Practice
We can learn to love God with all of our heart by spending time with Him, surrendering ourselves into His trustworthiness, and to be present in the moment, aware of His lovingkindness all through the day.
Do you have examples of loving with a your whole heart in your life? How does this help you in thinking about how to love God with all of your heart? What are some ways you enjoy spending time with God? What might God be inviting you into that would allow to receive His love for you more deeply?
