Monday, November 16, 2009

Love God so it shows...

“The most important [commandment] is this…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 12:29-30, NIV)

What does this kind of love for God look like?

I remembered cheering wildly for Jesus one year at a high school summer camp. Back and forth across the aisle we shouted out our devotion, each side trying to outdo the other. Louder and louder we screamed. “We love Jesus, yes we do! We love Jesus, how ‘bout you?”

Is that what it means to love God with all we have?

I’m sure at times heart-soul-mind-strength love for God might look something like that…for some, but not for all. For every believer there’s a slightly different answer to the how-to question. We are each one of a kind. We have our unique way of showing love to God. We express our soul’s longing for him in a variety of ways.

How you show the love that’s in your heart depends in part on the personality God gave you. How you engage God in your mind is shaped by the way God wired your brain. How you use your strength for God’s glory depends on the gifts and skills and talents you’ve been given.

Think about what your life. Can others tell that you love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength? Is your obedience to this Jesus-identified greatest commandment obvious?

I mean, if you really, really love God, it ought to show, right? If your heart, soul, mind and strength are given to anything or anyone, there has to be evidence that others can observe. It’s impossible to hide the exuberant, bursting-at-the-seams kind of love Jesus commends. Even if you’re quiet and reserved normally, it’s going to show. People are going to see it in the way you talk and act, in the way you go about your day.

So commit yourself right now to just one thing: figuring out how God designed you to love him. Then do what he’s made you to do. Glorify him. Love him. Enjoy him forever.


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