Matthew 22:37 Jesus said to him, “Yous must love the Lord yours God with all yours heart, with all yours soul, and with all yours mind.”
On this day to celebrate love to others especially our loved ones, the love for God is to be celebrated every day.
Love is agape
B1 This is the love of choice, not necessarily emotional love. We can love someone even if we are angry at them for a while. See Matthew 5:43-44,
B2 There are degrees of love—lesser to greater love. See Luke 7:42-47.
B3 People can choose to love wrong things. See Luke 11:43, John 3:19, John 12:43, 2 Timothy 4:10, 2 Peter 2:15, and 1 John 2:15.
B4 All must make a choice to love God or something else. See Luke 16:13.
B5 Love for a ruler is seen by obeying his/her rules. John 14:15. Compare 2 Corinthians 9:7.
B6 The actions of love are found in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a: Love is very patient and kind; love is not envious; love doesn’t brag about itself, is not haughty, 5 Doesn’t behave improperly, is not self-seeking; love isn’t easily aggravated, doesn’t keep a list of wrongs, 6 Doesn’t rejoice in injustice, but rejoices with the truth, 7 Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, calmly endures all things. 8 Love never falls away.
The heart is our “self.” It is the center, the core, of our being. It is the foundation of everything we are. It is our source of all our motives. It is depraved and evil, which is why Jesus Christ came on His mission to secure salvation for all who believe. Our depraved and evil heart chooses us first. What we are comfort with, our reality, our whole life. The heart is totally recreated by God when we believe and trust in Jesus Christ alone (2 Corinthians 5:17 and Galatians 6:15). Then with that new creation, our “self” is dedicated to fellowship and serving God forever. We want to have God’s worldview as our own, God’s lifestyle as our own, and God’s rules as the rules we live by.
The soul is our emotions. The soul helps identify who we are, what other people see, and effect our response to situations in life. Consider the following verses that describe our soul:
Deuteronomy 10:12 NLT And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the LORD your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul.
Deuteronomy 13:3 NLT do not listen to them. The LORD your God is testing you to see if you truly love him with all your heart and soul.
Deuteronomy 28:65 NLT There among those nations you will find no peace or place to rest. And the LORD will cause your heart to tremble, your eyesight to fail, and your soul to despair.
Job 7:11 NLT I cannot keep from speaking. I must express my anguish. My bitter soul must complain.
Psalm 13:2 NLT How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand?
Proverbs 24:14 NLT In the same way, wisdom is sweet to your soul. If you find it, you will have a bright future, and your hopes will not be cut short.
Lamentations 1:20 NLT LORD, see my anguish! My heart is broken and my soul despairs, for I have rebelled against you. In the streets the sword kills, and at home there is only death.
The body and soul can wither away from sorrows and troubles (Psalm 31:9). We can praise God (Psalm 84:2). Kind words are sweet to the soul and healthy for the body (Proverbs 16:24). Those who have faith in Jesus Christ will have our souls guarded for safety (Proverbs 24:12). Those who do not believe and trust in Jesus Christ alone will have their body and soul in hell (Matthew 10:28). Our soul is worth more than anything (Mark 8:37). Jesus’s soul was troubled too (John 12:27). The soul of those who believe are tormented seeing and living in evil (2 Peter 2:8).
The mind is the place where we can reason. We see a problem, gather facts, reason, find a solution, and carry it out or at least try. The Greek word for “mind” is διάνοια diánoia (G1271). It means understanding, thoughts, and imagination (Luke 1:51). Before conversion, our body and soul have evil desires (Ephesians 2:3). The understanding is darkened to truth (Ephesians 4:18). Jesus came and did give us understanding of “Him who was true,” so would please faith and trust in Jesus Christ (1 John 5:20).
1 John 4:17 NLT And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.