In Luke 10:27 and Mark 12:30, we notice that both passages use a fourfold description to explain how we are to love God: Heart, soul, strength and mind. In the Old Testament we find a similar command in Deuteronomy 6:5-6, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thine might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart.” It leaves out the word mind, but the Greek words for “heart” and “mind” translate the full spectrum of meaning in Hebrew for our inner sanctuary of devotion.
We realize as a follower of Christ, the constant battle to be an overcomer for him begins with knowing we may be distracted from his presence. When our attention is drawn away from our vows to walk with him and listen to his voice, we lose focus of our responsibility to keep him as our highest priority. To obey our Lord we must know what he is saying. We cannot love him or others the way he demands if our attention is centered on worldly desires.
When we love ourselves more than we love God, we are out of balance and living a lukewarm existence. When we spend more time dwelling on things that please us than we spend with God, we have drifted far from the shore. Do we really care? A man wrote me the other day and asked how he can win the war against his addiction to porn. We serve whom we obey. The awareness of God’s presence includes thinking about him while we are involved with everyday life. Whatever we are doing, we can allow him to be involved, and this will help us resist the temptation to sin and make right decisions.
To love God with our heart includes loving him with our emotions. Will we have emotions in heaven? We can base our speculations on the fact that God has emotions. Since we are made in God’s image, our feelings are like his, except his expressions are always pure and righteous. We notice he displays responses such as anger, regret, sadness, grieving, sorrow, delight, happiness, gladness, kindness, compassion and, of course, love. Emotions are how we perceive, discern and decide. Trusting God in our personal relationship with him is how we know him and love him with all of our hearts — all the time.
Loving God with your soul includes knowing you were wondrously made by the Creator of all things. When you discipline yourself to be still and quiet, something deep inside of you just knows there is a God. When we look at all of the intricacies of the universe, our planet and the human body, we realize only a divine designer can do that.