Loving God

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. -- Deuteronomy 6:5

I came across this verse today while I was reading a book, and it made me stop to think. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. That is true love, agape love. That isn't saying, "Yeah God, I love you," first thing in the morning and right before you go to bed and forgetting about Him for the remainder of the day. That isn't getting so busy that we push Him to the back of our minds, because, after all, there are more pressing matters. Loving God with all our hearts, soul and strength means putting Him first and letting everything else fall into place. Pushing other things to the side and saying that He is the more pressing matter.

That doesn't mean that I will lock myself in my room all day and ignore my children because I am spending time focusing on God. It means that I can love God and let that love overflow onto them. When I start focusing on them is when I start getting frustrated and losing my patience (and my temper). As long as my focus is on God and I am concentrating on loving Him, then everything else goes much smoother. It's just a matter of keeping God at the center of my mind. Loving Him with all of me.

You see I also realized that I can't love God with all of my heart, strength and soul if I am trying to love my kids. Then my love is divided. Most moms would argue with me here, but the Bible says to love God with all of my heart, not part of my heart. So if I'm trying to love my children, then I'm not really loving God with all of my heart, strength and soul. If I do love God with all of my heart, strength and soul, then that love will overflow onto my children and loving them wont be an issue. Does that make since, or am I rambling?

I can try forever to love my kids, and I will always fall short and be frustrated. I'm just not capable of agape love on my own. However, if I strive to love God, then the love I have for Him will overflow onto everyone around me, not just my own children. They will see that in me and there will never be any doubt about whether or not they are loved. They will know that they are not only loved by me, but also by God.

Pin It