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In Matthew 22 Jesus was confronted by the Pharisees after they heard He had put the Sadducces to silence concerning the resurrection at His second coming (Matthew 22:23-33). One of the Pharisees who was a lawyer tempted the Lord with the question of what is the greatest commandment in the law of God (verses 34-36). We read Jesus' response in verses 37-38:
"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment." Matthew 22:37-38
Jesus cited this from Deuteronomy 6:4-5 when God commanded the Israelites to love the Lord their God with their whole being. The commandment of loving God with our whole being is an important one. Love is the core of any relationship, especially with God. Without love, you cannot have a positive, stable, and trustworthy relationship with anybody. Likewise, we cannot please God or have a strong relationship with Him without love.
Now, our fleshly nature does not allow us to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind as we should. The flesh is contrary to the spirit (Galatians 5:17) and seeks to fulfill its own desires. The flesh loves only itself and the things of the world, but we are told to not love the world, nor the things in it.
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." 1 John 2:15
Being in the flesh, however, it is impossible to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind. Even if we try to love God, our carnal mind will draw our love toward the things of this world, therefore our love which we should dedicate to God will be split with or dedicated more to our flesh. This calls to mind what Jesus told us about mammon (material wealth and money), and how one cannot serve both God and mammon.
"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."
Matthew 6:24
If we are to serve God wholeheartedly, we cannot do so with a carnal mind which is naturally drawn to the things of this world. "But how is this possible?" you may ask. "I've tried loving God with my whole heart, but I cannot help but think of things of this world that bring me pleasure." Well, no one said that you can bring yourself to love God on your own. This requires the Holy Spirit being inside you to teach you how to love. Remember what Jesus said about the Holy Spirit:
"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." John 14:26
The Holy Spirit was sent to us to teach us all things; this includes teaching us how to love. The first step of being a ready learner is humility. We must humble ourselves before the Lord, we must realize that we do not know everything and we are not in control of everything. Pride is what prevents us from receiving instructions from the Lord, which is why God resists the proud (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5). It is only when we humble ourselves can the Holy Spirit then teach us how to love God with our whole being.
We must also do our part too in loving God. We show that we love God when we seek Him diligently. But how do we seek Him diligently? We do so by keeping His commandments, studying His word, and praying as well as worshipping. These things take discipline, and you have to ask the Lord to help you discipline yourself when doing these things. And by doing these things, you will increase your love for Him, and as time goes on you will suddenly notice that what you used to love about the world you will come to hate. You will spiritually mature in Christ and your desires will align with His desires.
It is essential to note that we must keep the commandments of God. Jesus told us that if we love Him, we would keep His commandments.
"If ye love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15
We show how much we love God when we keep His commandments. Those who disregard God's commandments do not love God but themselves only. This is the work of the flesh, the carnal mind which seeks to fulfill its lusts. This brings us back to what I said earlier about serving two masters. You cannot love and serve God and love and serve the flesh at the same time. You must choose one or the other. No one can make that decision for you; only you can make that choice. God gave you free will, so if you choose to serve Him, you are showing Him that you genuinely love Him and sincerely want to be with Him. He will not force you to love Him, for that would not be love but slavery. God is the God of truth, and He deserves true worship. We should give Him true worship, and we do this when we love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind.
Again, we cannot do this on our own. We have to ask the Lord to help us increase our love for Him, just as the man in Mark 9:24 asked Jesus to help him with his unbelief. If we are serious about loving God, then we will do all that we can to keep the commandments and be faithful to Him. And in so doing, we give God the glory.
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