Loving God With All Of Our Life

TOPIC: LOVING GOD WITH ALL OF OUR LIFE

Text: Deuteronomy 6:4-9

v. 5, “5 Ibigin mo si Yahweh na iyong Diyos nang buong puso, buong kaluluwa at buong lakas.” “You hall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

Introduction:

(1 PPT) LOVING GOD WITH ALL OF OUR LIFE. Let’s open and read Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (read). At the end of Israel’s long, 40-year trek/journey in the wilderness, Moses repeated the words of the covenant that God made with Israel, which began, “Hear O Israel, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” But this appears to be an impossible command for fallen man to attain. We are born dead in sin and at enmity with God. As members of fallen race, we have all sinned, and all have fallen far short of the goodness and perfection of God. God alone is perfect…so He alone is able to fulfill the command to love with every FIBER of His being – for God alone is love 1 Juan 4:16, “16 Nalalaman nating tayo'y iniibig ng Diyos at lubos tayong nananalig sa katotohanang ito. Ang Diyos ay pag-ibig.” It is humanly impossible to love the Lord in the way He commands and to love others with that same godly love. No one can love God every moment of the day and in every circumstance of life. As members of humanity, we are bound by our fallen nature, to fall short of His perfection. Irrespective of the sin we commit on a daily basis, we break this particular command continuously…for it is not humanly possible to love God with all our heart. Indeed, it is impossible to love as Christ’s loved us – which was the new commandment He gave to each member of the Christian church. Once we understand our inability to obey God’s commands and admit our spiritual bankruptcy, we are in a position to admit that we are sinners in need of a Savior. Indeed, this was the original point of God’s Holy law. It was given as a schoolmaster to teach us about Christ. It was a signpost brings us to the foot of the Cross. Throughout His earthly life, Jesus was seeking to expose this deadly, sinful flaw in mankind’s character. Christ was seeking to show the immensity of our sin against the goodness of God so that He could provide the message of salvation – by grace through faith. It is by grace through faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, that we…who are members of His body, have been cleansed from our sin, made children of God, and clothed in the righteousness of Christ, Himself. (1 PPT) How can we love God with all of our life?

1. By Allowing His Love to Control us (every areas of our life) (Deut. 6:5)

Deuteronomio 6:5, “5 Ibigin mo si Yahweh na iyong Diyos nang buong puso, buong kaluluwa at buong lakas.”

Paul said in 2 Corinto 5:14, “For the love of Christ controls us…” “14 Ang pag-ibig ni Cristo ang naghahari sa amin…” Every one of us has a code by which we live our lives. For some, it’s the desire to grab as much life as it has to offer. For others, it’s the pursuit of a dream or goal. For some, it’s prioritizing family above all else. For others, it’s desire to influence and change the world. One day, someone asked Jesus what the greatest commandment of all was and He replied by quoting from today’s verse. When we love God with all that we are, everything else falls into proper perspective and balance. To love God is to follow His ways and to embrace His character. Love for God, in turn, enables us to love others in a truly selfless way that makes all the difference – Juan 4:12, “12 Kailanma'y wala pang taong nakakita sa Diyos, ngunit kung tayo'y nagmamahalan, nasa atin ang Diyos at nagiging ganap sa atin ang kanyang pag-ibig.” Only the perfect Man – the Lord Christ Jesus, was good enough to pay the enormous price of sin. Only He was capable of loving God with a perfect love. Only in Christ can we be credited with His nature and love as He loved us. Only in the power of Christ can we love the Lord our God with all our heart. Only in Him can we love God with all our soul, and with all our might, and with all our mind, and with all our strength. For it is only as the very love of Christ flows into the heart that has been washed and cleansed by His sacrificial blood, that we can love with a Christ-like love. (1 PPT) So only when we understand and realize how great God’s love for us in spite of our sinfulness that we will able to truly love Him. Jesus said in Lukas 7:47, “47 Kaya't sinasabi ko sa iyo, malaki ang kanyang pagmamahal sapagkat maraming kasalanan ang pinatawad sa kanya; ngunit ang pinatawad ng kaunti ay kaunti rin ang pagmamahal.” The more we realize our sinfulness, the more we appreciate Him for forgiving us of all our sins and the more we love Him.