The Greatest Commands #4
Love God With All Your Strength
Introduction
An Amish boy and his parents found themselves in a modern shopping mall. They were amazed at everything but especially the two shiny, silver walls that would move apart and slide back together again. The boy asked, “What is this, Father?” The father, never having seen an elevator, said he had no idea. While the boy and his father were watching with amazement, an older woman in a wheelchair rolled up to the moving walls and pressed the button. When the walls opened she wheeled herself between them into a small room. The walls closed behind her. The boy and his father watched the numbers above the walls light up sequentially and then reverse as they came back down. Finally the walls opened up again and a gorgeous young woman stepped out. The father, never taking his eyes off the young woman, said quietly to his son, “Go get your mother.”
I wish that transformations were that easy! We have been talking about a transformed life this month - one that shapes itself by obeying the greatest commands. Jesus identified the first greatest command by quoting a passage from Deuteronomy: “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’”
We’ve talked about loving God with all your heart, your soul, and your mind. Today we come to the fourth word — “strength.” What does Jesus mean when he uses the word “strength” and what does it mean to love God with all your strength?
1. Love God With All Your Strength
The word strength here is not a term that means physical strength. It is a word that means “very” or “much”. It’s like saying, “Love God with everything you’ve got.” Ogden: “Our strength is our capacity or ability to serve God with the passion and energy he has given us…” All your energy, all your abilities, all your resources, all your opportunities.
“The majority of us have an ethereal, unpractical, bloodless abstraction that we call love for God; to Jesus love for God meant the most passionate, intense love of which a human being is capable.” — Oswald Chambers
That’s what it means to love God with all your strength — to love Him with your “very,” your “much,” your “everything.”
2. Four Ways to Love God With All Your Strength
-Love God With Your Pursuit. Every day, we choose what to chase — success, comfort, entertainment, control — but the one pursuit that gives life meaning is to seek the Lord. Psalm 105:4 “Seek the LORD and His strength; seek His presence continually.” What are you really seeking in life? Above career, financial success, and status in life - seek to Love God more than anything.
-Love God With Your Abilities. Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord.” Every gift you have — physical, mental, creative, financial — is an opportunity to love God. Loving God with all your strength means using what you can do for what He wants done. If you can cook, comfort, build, listen, teach, encourage, lead, or serve —then do it with all your heart for His glory. I read about a lady in one congregation who said, “I can’t do much, but I can make banana pudding.” So she made one every week for the shut-ins. And in her own sweet way, she was loving God with all her strength. Galatians 5:13 "Serve one another humbly in love"
-Love God With Your Resources. Hebrews 13:16 “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have.”
Loving God with your strength means being generous with your time, your money, and your energy. Generosity towards others is giving back to the One who gave us everything. Love in action always costs something.
-Love God in Action! 1 John 3:18 says, “Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” True love for God shows up in action, in obedience, in service, in faithfulness. John 14:23 “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word.” You can say you love God all day long, but the proof is in what you do with your strength. It’s like saying you love your spouse but never lifting a hand to help. never showing affection, never sacrificing. That’s not love — that’s sentiment. Loving God with all your strength means showing up, standing firm, and serving faithfully.
-Love God Because He First Loved Us. We don’t love God to earn His favor —we love Him because we already have it. The One who gave His strength to create the world used that same strength to carry a cross. 1 John 4:7-8 “Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” He loved us with all His heart, soul, mind, and strength —and He calls us to love Him the same way.
Conclusion
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.”
Everything hinges on this greatest command. If we do not love God, then nothing else matters.
Here’s how C. S. Lewis imagines what God intends to do in our life. Consider yourself a living house, he says. God comes in to rebuild it. At first, he is doing the little stuff: unstopping the drains, fixing the leaks in the roof. These jobs have needed to be done, so you aren’t surprised. But then God starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts. You wonder, What is God up to? The answer is that he is building a far different house out of you than the one you thought. He is throwing up a new wing here, and extra floor there, running up towers and making courtyards. You thought you were going to be a little decent cottage. He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it himself. (Mere Christianity)
If you’re ready to give your heart, soul, mind, and strength to the Lord — through faith, repentance, and baptism —He will meet you with His power, His Spirit, and His promise of eternal life.
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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. When you hear "love God with all your strength," what's the first thing that comes to mind? How is that different from loving with your heart, soul, or mind?
2. Psalm 105:4 says to "seek his presence continually." What are some creative ways to maintain God's presence in your mind during busy, distracting days?
3. According to Colossians 3:23, we should work "heartily, as for the Lord." How does this perspective change the way we approach our work, whether at a job, at home, or in the church?
4. What barriers in modern life make it hard to love God with all our strength? How can we overcome them?
5. Hebrews 13:16 encourages us not to neglect doing good and sharing what we have. Why is generosity with our time, money, and energy a demonstration of loving God with our strength?
6. Share an example of someone you know who uses their abilities to love God. How does their example inspire you?
7. "If we do not love God, then nothing else matters." What does this reveal about the central importance of the greatest commandment?
8. We love God because He first loved us (1 John 4:7-8). How does knowing that God loved us enough to carry a cross motivate you to love Him with all your strength? How can reflecting on God’s love for us help overcome feelings of inadequacy or fear when trying to live out this commandment?
9. Read Galatians 5:13 and Matthew 7:12. How is serving others actually a form of loving God with your strength?
Resources
Quak, Allan. Sermon series: All in Love. https://sermoncentral.com/sermon-series/all-in-love-sermon-series-from-allan-quak-21761
Ogden, Greg. The Essential Commandment: A Disciples Guide to Loving God and Others. InterVarsity Press, 2011.
