Loving God

God desires our love. The Pharisees test Jesus by asking which commandments are more important than others. But Jesus shows them that they have misunderstood what God’s Law has always been about in the first place: loving God. Fulfilling all of His commands flows out of our desire to keep God’s First Commandment of loving Him completely.

How are we called to love God? We are called to love God with all of our heart. In Jewish tradition, the heart is the center of choices and decision-making. To love God with our heart is to love Him as our first priority, to choose Him above all others. We are called to love God with our whole soul. The soul is the essence of who we are, the lasting portion of us which lives on after physical death. To love God with all of our soul is to love Him with the very essence of who we are in a way that carries on into eternity. Lastly, we are called to love God with all our mind, to have Him at the forefront of our thoughts and to have our thoughts of Him consume us completely. God wants us to love Him with every fiber of our being, every part of ourselves. He wants us to love Him with an all-encompassing love.

Understanding what God truly desires causes us to examine our motives behind the things that we do for Him. Following every letter of God’s Commandments does not necessarily prove our love for Him. But a deep and earnest love for God will manifest itself in obedience to His commands. God desires our love. What drives you to do things for God? Let the answer always be “because I love Him.”