Love The Lord With All | 11:00

Coming out of the Christmas season and looking ahead to a new year, the call is to set goals that align with what God says matters most: loving the Lord with all the heart, soul, mind, and strength (Matthew 22:36–38; Mark adds “strength”). This is not a suggestion or poetic flourish; it is the greatest command, the mountain peak from which everything else flows. The danger is familiarity—reciting, singing, and posting these words while quietly living detached from them. Love for God is not a feeling to chase, but a covenantal allegiance shaped by the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:5). It is not the price of redemption, but the response to redemption: “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

Total love is whole-person devotion. The heart yields its desires and priorities to Him. The soul finds identity and worth anchored in Him, rather than in achievement or approval. The mind is renewed by Scripture, thinking biblically and letting truth confront cherished assumptions. Strength turns inward devotion into visible obedience—because love that never moves the hands is not biblical love (John 14:15). This is the mark of true discipleship, not churchy busyness or vague admiration. Many admire Jesus; disciples surrender to Him.

Love precedes obedience, yet obedience, over time, reshapes the heart. As the Spirit gives a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26), desires mature; delight in the Lord reorders what the heart wants (Psalm 37:4). Practically, this looks like daily surrender (Luke 9:23), unhurried prayer and Scripture, intentional worship that bows low before God’s greatness, Scripture-saturated thinking (Colossians 3:16; Romans 12:2), obedient action (James 1:22), whole-life alignment to God’s glory (1 Corinthians 10:31), and loving people as the test of authenticity (1 John 4:20). Love does not make life easy; it makes hard things joyful by turning duty into delight. Jesus loved with His whole being—His body given, His soul poured out, His obedience unto death—and now calls for total devotion, not perfection. This is the life that transforms, the mark of a true disciple, the command that changes everything.

Key Takeaways

• 1. Love is covenant, not emotion Love for God is allegiance rooted in redemption, not a mood or spiritual buzz. It is the loyal response of a people already rescued, ordering life around His Lordship. This frees the heart from transactional religion and steadies faith in seasons when feelings fade. Covenant love is durable because it is anchored in God’s prior love. [42:03]
• 2. Whole-person love reshapes desires When the heart, soul, mind, and strength aim at God, obedience stops being mere compliance and becomes joy. The Spirit reshapes what the heart wants, so delight precedes and then deepens obedience. Over time, the will and affections converge in devotion, not drift apart in duty. This is how holiness becomes hunger, not just habit. [50:51]
• 3. Devotion requires total surrender Admiration quotes Jesus; disciples obey Jesus. He does not accept partial allegiance because He is worthy of exclusive loyalty. Surrender means reordering priorities, dying to self, and embracing the cross-shaped path of love. Anything less flatters Christ while keeping control. [47:50]
• 4. Scripture-formed minds honor God God is not threatened by rigorous thinking; He commands it. Loving with the mind means letting Scripture confront cultural scripts and personal preferences. Renewal requires submission—allowing truth to disrupt comfortable assumptions for the sake of deeper faithfulness. Thinking biblically is worship with the intellect. [44:58]
• 5. Obedience makes love visible Affection that never moves the hands is not biblical love. When obedience flows from love, it brings joy because it expresses belonging, not bargaining. Ask in every decision, “What would loving God look like here?” That question turns ordinary moments into worship. [53:51]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [36:50] - The greatest commandment question
• [39:51] - Beware of complacent familiarity
• [42:03] - Love rooted in covenant loyalty
• [44:58] - Heart, soul, mind, and strength
• [47:50] - From admiration to surrendered discipleship
• [50:51] - Desire transformed by delighting in God
• [53:51] - Practices: obedience and whole-life alignment
• [57:24] - All-in love that satisfies
• [59:47] - Prayer, recommitment, and altar call

1. In Matthew 22:36–38, what three parts does Jesus name for how we are to love God, and what does that suggest about the scope of this command?
2. “Familiarity can breed spiritual complacency.” What specific kinds of familiarity were warned about, and why is that dangerous? [39:51]
3. Where does this command come from in the Old Testament, and how did Israel practice it in daily life? (“This…is known as the Shema…faithful Jews recited it every morning and every evening.”) [42:03]
4. What line described love as action, not just affection? (“Love that never moves your hands is not biblical love.”) [44:58]

1. “Love is not the price of redemption; it is the response to redemption.” If love is covenant loyalty, not a mood, how does that reshape what obedience means when feelings are weak? [42:03]
2. “Jesus is not asking for partial devotion…He is worthy of exclusive allegiance.” What might exclusive allegiance look like for a modern disciple who tends to admire Jesus but keep control? [47:50]
3. “Love precedes obedience, but obedience reshapes the heart.” How does practicing obedience over time change what a person actually wants and delights in? [50:51]
4. Loving God with the mind means submitting opinions to Scripture. What kinds of cherished assumptions might need to be surrendered if thinking biblically is an act of worship? [44:58]

1. Daily surrender: Luke 9:23 calls for denying self and taking up the cross daily. What would a simple, specific morning surrender look like for you this week (words you’ll pray, plans you’ll lay down)? [50:51]
2. Unhurried presence: Where can you create “unhurried time” with God in the next seven days—time for prayer and Scripture without noise? What will you change to make that space real? [50:51]
3. Mind renewal: Name one cultural script or personal preference you sense Scripture is confronting right now. What is one step you will take to “submit your opinions to Scripture” (reading plan, accountability, study resource)? [44:58]
4. Obedience made visible: Think of one decision on your plate this week. Ask, “What would loving God look like here?” What concrete action will you take because of that answer? [53:51]
5. Whole-life alignment: Pick one arena—work, relationships, private life, or public witness—that needs to be brought under “whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” What is your next faithful step? [53:51]
6. Love people well: Who is one person who is hard for you to love? If love for God shows up in how we treat others, what would covenant love do for that person this week (pray, forgive, serve, speak truth)? [53:51]
7. From admiration to surrender: Where are you still keeping control—time, money, reputation, habits? What would exclusive allegiance cost you, and what freedom or joy might it bring? [47:50]