Earlier this week, Terrie and I were discussing my outlines for Spiritual Leadership Conference. One of the sessions includes a passage from Deuteronomy 6 with a point on loving God with all your heart.
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.—Deuteronomy 6:5
We talked together about what it means to love the Lord this way—and how you know when you are loving Him with your all and when you aren’t. Terrie shared several insightful thoughts such as sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, delight for God’s Word, quickness to witness, etc.
But as I read John 3 in my devotions yesterday morning, I noticed a nutshell answer to our question embodied in the life of John the Baptist:
And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.— John 3:26–30
When I am loving God with all my heart, God is big, and I am small.
If you’re like me, your mind is easily preoccupied with yourself—your activities, your burdens, your projects, your schedule.
But when we love God with all our heart, mind, souls, and strength, our focus is on Him. We’re not consumed with ourselves. We’re consumed with our great God.
May He increase in each of our lives as we love Him more and ourselves less!
