Love God with All Your Soul - Pt 2

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30) 

Today we will continue this series of articles on the greatest commandment by looking at how we can love God with all our soul. 

The scripture tells us we are not only to love God with all our heart, but also with all our soul (synonymous with “spirit”).  How do you love God with all your soul?  This is a huge question.  We need to know the answer to this because it is one of the four things Jesus said we need to do to love God completely.  In our devotion to God, our soul is responsible for our highest spiritual exercises; it is the seat of our emotional activity.  We love the Lord with all our soul by living a life of faithfulness to all that the Lord has required of us. 

While loving the Lord with all our heart has to do with affection, loving the Lord with all our soul has to do with devotion.  Christ’s obedience was nowhere more tested than in the garden of Gethsemane, where His soul was “…overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” (Matthew 26:38b)  The soul expresses the sorrow and joy that inevitably accompany the life of faith. (See Psalm 42; 32:2)  

Here are three main ways to love God with all our soul:

1. Love the Lord with all your soul by making godly choices.

Our lives are the sum of the choices we make.  Plain and simple.  Our choices show what we are committed to, and they reflect our core values, defining us and displaying our lifestyle before the world.

We do what we value.  If we treasure our relationship with the Lord, our choices will simply mirror the treasure.  Choices flow from what we treasure most.  Ask yourself, how do I spend my money? What do I do with my time?  What kinds of things do I read?  What programs do I watch?  What do I do for entertainment?  Where do I go for relaxation?  What things give comfort in difficult times? What kind of friends do I have?

All of these result in choices that demonstrate whether we love God with all our soul.

2. Love the Lord with all your soul by pursuing obedience to His Word.

“If you love me, you will obey what I command.” (John 14:15)

Love must be demonstrated.  When we keep His commandments, when we live by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God (See Matthew 4:4), we are physically expressing our love for the Lord.

I’ve been happily married for over 28 years.  During that time, I have made decisions based on love that I did not feel like making, but I did it anyways.  I am obedient to the covenant that I made over 28 years ago to love unconditionally whether I feel like it or not.

That’s why this second part of the First Commandment is vital.  Sometimes we are not going to feel like loving God, but we do it out of love for God, nonetheless.  In the Kingdom, obedience usually comes first and feelings second.

3. Love the Lord with all your soul by pursuing a life of humility in attitudes and speech.

Embracing humility is the stage where we can express our love to the Lord.  Jesus taught us how to love from a place of meekness. (See Matthew 5:5)  Meekness is power and privilege under control. It speaks of restraint in the use of power except to promote love.

“Meekness” is not “weakness”; it is strength submitted to the control of God and His will.” --Shawn Thomas

This meekness is expressed most willingly in our attitude and speech.  What we say and how we say it enhances or quenches our ability to love the Lord by the power of the Spirit.  Wrong speech will ultimately affect our spiritual lives and work against our love for the Lord.

“For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:34)

When Jesus is our Great Treasure, our affections are captured.  This is how we love God with all of our heart.  When our affections are captured, then choices become god-centered, and a lifestyle of humility and godliness is born.  This is loving God with all your soul.

To “love God with all my soul” is to love God with a strong desire, true emotion and powerful enthusiasm.

 As the deer pants for streams of water,

So my soul pants for you, O God. My

soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When can I go and meet with God?

(Psalm 42:1-2)

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