love the lord your god with all your heart

His unconditional, unfailing love can be an inspiration to us when we love God and others.Īre you interested in learning more about the Bible? Grand Canyon University’s College of Theology offers a variety of theology and ministry degrees. His love for us is not dependent on our love for Him. Romans 5:8 says “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Before we could ever love God, He has loved us. “We love because he first loved us.” - 1 John 4:19, NIV We can always go to Him through prayer to ask for His help when needed, as on our own strength nothing is possible, but with His strength anything is. However, God’s forgiveness and love is always there, even when we fall short or struggle. Will we mess up? Of course, we are far from perfect. Our love for Him should overflow into our actions and habits. The same should be true about our relationship with God. If we have a parent, significant other or friend who we really care about, we often change our actions to reflect what we know would make them happy. Love and obedience go hand-in-hand for us as humans. Loving God with all our heart also implies obedience to His commandments. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love'. “And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. However, we can do our best to live our lives in a way pleasing to God and strive to grow closer to Him. We will never be perfect while we are on earth. Is this always easy? No, we are humans with sinful natures. Our decisions, actions and days should be determined by what God wants us to do and not by what we think will bring us contentment as, ultimately, we will be disappointed looking for our own happiness. Our will is secondary to His will for us. What does it mean to have complete devotion and dedication to God? It entails making God more than a priority in our lives, but rather the priority in our lives.

The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” - Galatians 2:20, NIV “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. We are called to go all in for Christ and live with more than a half-hearted spirit. His response was “love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your mind,” a phrase that can also be found in the old testament in Deuteronomy 6:5.Ībove anything, God wants our whole hearts and our entire lives, not just pieces of us or certain aspects we are willing to share with Him. In Matthew 22, Jesus is asked by a Pharisee who was trying to test Jesus what the greatest commandment is. “Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’”- Matthew 22:37, NIV

Love the lord your god with all your heart