Loving God with Heart, Soul and Mind

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newton3003

Senior Member
Feb 4, 2017
437
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#1
Jesus said that the whole Law given to Moses is summed up in two commandments, with the first being that we love God with all our heart, soul and mind. But how do we do that?

1 John 5:3 says, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments…” But what commandments are those, aside from the commandment to love eachother?

We have a hint of those commandments in the parable of the rich young man. Said man asks Jesus what he could do to have eternal life. Jesus in Matthew 19:17 says, “…If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” The man asks Jesus in verse 18, “Which ones?” Jesus responds, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Well, we know that loving our neighbor as ourselves is the second great commandment of Jesus. The others are directly from the Ten Commandments. It’s interesting that Jesus doesn’t mention the other Commandments, such as, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,” “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy god in vain,” and a few others.

Those others, such as not to commit adultery and not to covet your neighbor’s possessions, may be part of Jesus’ second commandment, and as Jesus said nobody goes to God except through him, it sums up the Law given to Moses which involve loving your neighbor as yourself.

As for the ones such as “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,” and “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy god in vain,” in similar fashion need not be mentioned since they are wrapped up in Jesus’ first commandment which is to love god with all your heart, soul and mind.”

And as the Commandment to not have other gods before us goes, loving God involves our total devotion to him to the exclusion of other gods. In a way, it’s like pledging allegiance to the flag, which symbolizes our loyalty our country first and to the exclusion of other countries.

And in a sense, the love of God can be compared to the love we have for our spouses, inasmuch as that love involves our total devotion to them.

How do we show God we love Him? What will get us through the door to his House? Specifically, we keep His commandments alluded to in the first and second great commandments of Jesus, and the commandments referred to in Matthew 19:18. And as love is also an emotion which motivates us, such emotion is directed solely to God, alongside our faith in Him for things to work out for our own good.
 
Feb 28, 2016
11,311
2,974
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#2
a really good Post, newton...

hub and I really love these Matt. 19, scriptures - they are ALL related to how we relate to our neighbor -
Christ mentions, 'thou shall not murder, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness, honor your father and mother,
and love your neighbor as yourself, but He doesn't mention, you shall not covet, and the reason is,
because that is exactly what the young man is doing, because Christ tells him to go and sell all
that he has and give it to the poor, so Christ is using 'understatement' by not 'stating' the
Commandment of 'thou shall not covet', because this is what the young man was guilty of' -
every first century Jew would have understood when any Rabbi mentioned all of the Commandments
relating to 'how to treat your neighbor', with the exception of one, (coveting), they would have known
that they were doing it on purpose, it was 'understatement', since they were taught the Commandments
since they were little children -
and the lesson is, sometimes by not stating the obvious, it makes the person more able to receive...
 

Blain

The Word Weaver
Aug 28, 2012
19,212
2,547
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#3
If I may add another perspective while I do have great reverence for the law and cherish it loving God with all our hearts, all our minds and all our souls seems to come naturally as we continue in seeking hm everyday. For some being with God is more than obeying his commands and being a faithful and righteous believer, not to say these are not things we should do but there are those of his children who love him like this naturally because of the bond they have with him.

I think if one is to love him like that then yes they would know and follow his commandments but like with the bible I believe that one can only truly see and understand his commandments with a deep and intimate relationship with him. His is an un natural love and a alien kind of bond he shares with his children because we as humans have not known such a kind of love. The commandments at first glance can appear as a set of rules of sorts and obeying these rules may show commitment and may be seen as a way of showing that one loves him with all their hearts minds and souls however it goes deeper than that doesn't it? It begins and ends with the heart and ones heart will fall for him the more they come to know him and the closer they become to him and from personal experience I can say that loving him with all ones mind heart and soul flourishes from that.