Isn’t it wonderful to wake up knowing God loves us? We can show we love Him by serving Him today – by talking to someone about it – by showing grace and mercy to others because He has shown it to us – by speaking more kindly and praying for those who need it today (which would be all of us).
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I once told my nieces and nephews I loved all of them with all my heart. The youngest, who was only about three at the time, asked me how I could possibly do that since I only had one heart. The other children laughed, but it was a valid question.
It showed me how smart Will was to even think of that, especially at his young age. At first I didn’t know how to explain it to him. In his practical young mind, it didn’t add up.
I explained that love works like that because the more we love, the more our heart grows. We have more room in our hearts to care about more and more people. Honestly, love knows no bounds!
That being said, we know Who we are should love above everyone else. It is our Heavenly Father. He should get our whole hearts. We are supposed to love Him completely and totally.
We must remember love is an action word. Many people say it is not an emotion. I understand they are trying to emphasize how important it is to show our love through our actions. I do not deny that. Still, I think it involves some emotion also.
The Bible tells us we should love God with all our heart, mind, and soul. The gospel of Mark also includes ‘with all our might.’ Two or three mornings ago, we talked about loving the Lord with all our soul – which is that spiritual part of us. It is the essence of who we are.
I think these terms heart, soul, mind and might are so closely intertwined that it is difficult to speak about any of them separate from the others. This seems to be especially so with our hearts and minds. They are sometimes used synonymously in the scriptures.
Love is an action word, but we often are not stirred to action until our emotions are involved. I am reminded of Acts 2 when the people were “pricked in their hearts” by the preaching of the apostles. It was their hearts that prompted them to act. The action was their obedience to Christ.
We might also remember the four friends who lowered a fifth man through a hole in the roof of a house. They wanted to get him close enough to Jesus to be healed. The four must have truly loved the one to do what they did!
In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul named some great things and said if he did these things and did not have love, it would profit him nothing. I think it is important to remember this.
Loving God with all our heart involves both emotions and actions. Our lives are richly rewarded when we do this!
Christ above all things - Robin
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