How To Fulfill The Great Commandment

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Matt 22:37-39 ESV)

Today, our focus is on the Great Commandment to love God. Jesus said that when you love your neighbor it is the same as loving God, which is how we fulfill the Great Commission daily.

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matt 28:19-20 ESV)

Jesus has commanded us to teach others how to love God with all their heart, soul, and mind. That creates a dilemma because many people have a hard enough time loving themselves, let alone God and their neighbors.

So, what did Jesus mean exactly? How do we love God? Let's unpack the verses to understand what He said.

The word "love" (Gk: 'agapaó') is the verb of 'agape' which means to love unconditionally and sacrificially by demonstrating it through actively choosing to do what God desires by His power and direction.

Within the world's religions, it is not uncommon to hear that the greatest thing to obtain is faith. Yet, the Great Commandment given by God is not to have faith but rather, to LOVE Him. Faith - in and of itself - is useless unless God's love energizes it. This love command is the foundation of Christianity. The reason God wants us to love Him with all our heart, soul, and mind is because that is how He loves us!

God's very essence is love (See 1 John 4:7-10). He has always been love, even before He created human beings. He has always sought to have a close relationship with His children. We were made for this love. The entire story of humanity is wrapped up within it. Love is the energy of life and is why we were created. Love is our eternal destiny.

Christianity is the only religion that sets forth the Creator of the Universe as love. All of creation resounds with the proof that God is love. Within Him is found all the fullness of excellence, beauty, and perfection. He is the author of all that is good in creation. This truth is taught throughout the Bible, beginning with Adam in the Garden of Eden.

When God created Adam, He said, "I will make a partner suitable to you" (Gen 2:18 NIV). God was declaring the hidden purpose of His heart from eternity past. This promise ultimately speaks of Jesus and the Church [you and me] (See Ephesians 5:25-6:1).

God proved He is love by choosing to walk among us and die in our place (See John 3:16). He invites every human being to come to Him, reaching out His arms in tender affection with nail-pierced hands in the purest and most intimate way.

v. The word "all" (Gk: 'holos') is an adjective meaning the whole, entire, complete.

v. The word "your" (Gk: 'su') is a personal pronoun meaning you.

v. "...heart."

The word "heart" (Gk: 'kardia') used in Scripture does not refer to the literal physical organ that pumps blood throughout the body. It is used figuratively for the center of our being, the seat of thoughts, understanding, passions, desires, affections, purposes, and actions that establish who we are within the utmost depths of our being.

Jesus wants us to love Him with all of our sensibilities, affections, emotions, desires, passions and cultivate them constantly with steadfast affection in remembrance of His merciful goodness, kindness, and mercy (see Romans 2:4).

v. "...with all your soul"

The word "soul" (Gk: 'psuché') refers to a person's distinct identity and the seat of personality, perception, affections, emotions, feelings, desires, and will. It is an essence of 'spirit,' which differs from the body and is not dissolved by death.

The word has various meanings in Scripture and is used interchangeably with the word 'pneuma' which is often translated as "spirit" with a minor distinction; "spirit' relates humans to God, and "soul" relates humans to the physical world. The "spirit" is the eternal breath of life bestowed on humans by God, and the "soul" is the life created in the individual. The body is animated by soul and spirit. The "spirit" is not separate and purer than the "soul."

"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." (Heb 4:12 ESV)

The verb translated as "division" is not used elsewhere in Scripture to distinguish between two different things but is always used when distributing and dividing up various aspects of the same thing (see also Heb 2:4; Luke 11:17-18; Matt 27:35; John 19:24).