Latest / Reformed Thinking / Love God with All Your Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength | John Piper

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Love God with All Your Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength | John Piper · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome everyone, to another deep dive.
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Today we're considering a really fundamental question, one that
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shapes our entire walk of faith. We're going to take a careful
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look at what it truly means to love God, especially as this is
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revealed through the teachings of Jesus.
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Yes, that's precisely our goal. The sources we've looked at for
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this deep dive, they bring together some significant
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scriptural passages and, well, insightful theological
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reflections. They really guide us towards a
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clear understanding of what Jesus called the great and 1st
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Commandment, right? So our mission for the next
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little while is to unpack the very nature of this kind of
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love, how knowing God is, you know, essential for it and the
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central place Christ holds in all of this.
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What does it truly mean for us to love the Lord our God with
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all our heart, soul, mind and strength?
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Let's get into it. OK, so section one, the first
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and most significant commandment.
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We should probably begin right where Jesus himself placed his
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command. He didn't just mention it
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offhand. He identified it as the well,
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the preeminent directive for humanity.
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It stands above all others. It absolutely does.
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The core passage we're really drawing from is found in Mark
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chapter 12, verses 29 and 30. There Jesus states here, O
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Israel, the Lord, our God, the Lord is 1 And you shall love the
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Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul,
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and with all your mind, with all your strength.
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And what's striking there is that he's quoting Deuteronomy,
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right? Deuteronomy 6.
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Exactly. He's pulling directly from
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Deuteronomy 6.5. It shows the deep historical
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roots of this command within God's own revelation to His
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people going back centuries. It wasn't some new idea he came
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up with, but a foundational truth that Jesus really elevated
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to its proper place. And it's not just any command
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you mentioned. He called it the most important
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and the great and 1st commandment.
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That positioning is so telling, isn't it?
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It's the primary call on us, the overarching demand for humanity
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in our relationship with God. It kind of sets the standard for
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everything else. And that emphasis on all within
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the command, all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all
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your strength, that's really crucial.
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It signifies a call for a devotion that leaves, well, no
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part of our being untouched. Nothing left out.
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Right. It's not about giving God some
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of our attention or maybe a portion of our energy.
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It's about a comprehensive surrender of our entire self.
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It's a devotion that should permeate every aspect of who we
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are. So it really means engaging
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every single faculty, every capacity we possess in this act
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of love, our deepest feelings, our highest thoughts, or, you
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know, physical energy, every part of us is called to this one
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purpose. It seems to leave no room for
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holding back or dividing our loyalties.
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Now, moving from the, let's say, the scope of this command, we
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need to really dig into the true character of this divine love.
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What is it? And our sources make a
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compelling argument here. Loving God isn't just a simple
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decision like choosing cereal in the morning.
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Instead, it requires A genuine inner alteration.
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You can't just intellectualize it or, you know, mentally agree
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to it. There has to be a change deep
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inside. And what's revealed about the
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outcome of this inner alteration is quite beautiful, actually.
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This change makes God compellingly attractive to us.
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It suggests that His glory, His beauty, actively compels your
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admiration and delight. Yeah, it's less about a forced
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obligation more, but an irresistible draw, a kind of
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genuine magnetism. So it's not just thinking, OK
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God is good, but a deep, emotional, almost aesthetic
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appreciation. Exactly this Seeing and savoring
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God as compellingly beautiful isn't just a nice side idea.
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Our sources put it right at the very center of truly loving God.
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It's in the main lens through which we ought to view Him.
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It points to a real internal shift in how we perceive and
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relate to God. It's about reorienting our
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deepest affections, our desires. Think of it like seeing a truly
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stunning sunset. Your response isn't just, oh,
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that meets the criteria for a sunset.
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It's a spontaneous felt admiration and joy.
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That's the kind of internal response being described here,
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aimed at God himself. And here's where our sources
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really challenge a common assumption, maybe even a deeply
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ingrained habit in our faith practices.
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We often think of loving God mainly as a matter of doing
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things, following rules, going to church, serving others.
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The outward stuff. Yeah, but the deep dive into
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these texts reveals a critical distinction that, at its core,
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love for God isn't primarily about external behavior, but
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about internal affection. It's not just deeds, but a deep
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delight. This really changes how we might
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approach our religious life. It does.
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This distinction clarifies that God's glory becomes our supreme
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pleasure. It's about finding our greatest
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satisfaction, our highest joy in Him.
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And when that happens, it naturally leads us to prefer,
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above everything else, to know Him more, to see Him more
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clearly, to be in His presence and, well, to become more like
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Him. So the outward actions, the
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deeds. They become a natural, almost
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joyful overflow of this inward delight, rather than being the
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delighted self or the main definition of that love.
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This focus on the harsh necessity is something Jesus
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himself talked about a lot, often critiquing those around
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him. He spoke to people who you know,
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honored him with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
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Right Mark 7. He even said in vain, Do they
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worship me? That really highlights a
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critical truth, external religious observance.
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Without that matching inward affection, it just falls flat.
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It's empty. It truly is.
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That passage shows us that outward actions, even those that
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look really religious or pious, aren't the main meaning of love
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or worship. Instead, what happens in the
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heart is absolutely essential. It's the inner disposition.
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Yeah, the true state of our affections.
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That's what validates any outer expression.
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A genuinely pleasing action towards God doesn't come from
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just a sense of duty, but from a heart that freely and genuinely
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admires and finds joy in Him. It's worship born out of a free,
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joyful admiration. This point gets driven home even
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more by Jesus's teaching on serving 2 masters.
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Remember Matthew 6.24, No one can serve 2 masters, for either
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he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted
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to the one and despise the other.
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You cannot serve God and money. The implication there is pretty
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stark, isn't it? The opposite of loving God isn't
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just say, indifference or neglect, it's presented with
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strong emotional words like hating and despising.
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Very strong words. Yeah, and at this point, to the
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fact that love for God is also meant to be a strong inward
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emotion, a fervent affection, not just an outward action or
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even a choice to serve. The service itself is rooted in
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and flows from this internal passion for God.
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It's not the same as that love, but a product of it.
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We're called to have a single undivided affection.
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And this deep, heartfelt affection is also highlighted by
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that, well, poignant warning Jesus gave to an adulterous
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generation. He used that term for those
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seeking a sign, those looking for something beyond who he was.
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That's in Matthew 12. Yeah, and that analogy is
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incredibly powerful, and it's steeped in Old Testament
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imagery. God was often depicted as
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Israel's husband. You see that beautifully in
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places like Ezekiel 16. Right, the covenant
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relationship. Exactly.
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Then Jesus comes along and presents himself as the
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bridegroom, a central figure in parables like the 10 virgins in
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Matthew 25 S When people demanded signs from him, it was
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like a spouse demanding proof or looking for thrills outside the
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marriage. OK, I see.
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It revealed an unfaithful heart preferring other suitors, maybe
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the praise of others or the comfort of money, or even just a
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spectacular show over genuine trust and delight in their true
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spouse who is right there in front of them.
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So this analogy teaches us that our love for God should be like
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the faithfulness of a wife's love for her husband.
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It's not just about outward behavior or fulfilling a
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contract, but about heartfelt affection, admiration, and real
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delight. It's meant to be modeled more on
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the joyful exuberance we find in a book like the Song of Solomon,
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perhaps see expressions there of deep joy and spiritual elation,
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not the reluctant service of a slave.
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It's about it deeply personal, intimate and joyful union.
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OK, so if true love for God is this rich affection and delight,
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this deep savoring, then a crucial question comes up.
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How do we even begin to cultivate that?
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Well, our sources are very clear on this.
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There's an indispensable need to truly know God.
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You can't bypass this step. That's the foundational
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principle. Then, to love God, we must know
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him. It implies God wouldn't be
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honored by a love that's, well, groundless or ignorant.
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Exactly. Our sources even suggest that
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such a thing, a love for God not rooted in knowledge of Him,
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doesn't really exist. If we don't know anything about
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God, what is there in our minds or hearts to actually spark that
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love? Good.
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Point. Any vague attraction, or maybe
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an unfocused gratitude that isn't coming from a genuine
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knowledge of who God is, isn't truly love for God.
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To genuinely love God, to have that inner alteration and
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delight we talked about, you must know Him as he's revealed
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in Jesus. That's a critical qualifier,
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isn't it? Binding the knowledge directly
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to the affection. We don't just love a vague idea
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of God. No, we love the specific
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revealed God of the Bible. And this knowledge isn't just
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knowing about his actions. It involves understanding the
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very attributes of God, his character.
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Our sources outline his revealed identity.
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God is the creator of everything, humans, the
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universe. But also the sustainer.
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He upholds all he made, governing its smallest details.
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It's a God so involved that he cares for sparrows and dresses
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the lilies of the field. Matthew 10 and Matthew 6 talk
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about this so beautifully. He's not distant.
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He's intimately engaged with his creation.
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And beyond his actions and sustaining care, his very being
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has specific qualities. He possesses wisdom.
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Luke 11 has Jesus Speaking of God's wisdom, pointing to divine
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foresight. Not just smarts, but a perfect
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design. Then there's His righteousness.
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Matthew 6.33 highlights that a perfect moral uprightness.
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He possesses strength, mentioned in Matthew 22, the power to act
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on His will. And also his wrath.
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Yes, his wrath, which John 3.36 speaks of, his settled
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opposition to evil, his holy displeasure with sin, but also
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his compassion powerfully shown in the Prodigal Son story in
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Luke 15. The father's tender heart
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embodying God's mercy. And of course is John 3.16 sums
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it up powerfully as self giving pursuing affection.
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So these aren't just labels, they're vital aspects of who we
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are called to love, and they all contribute to why he is, as you
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said, compellingly attractive. Exactly.
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Loving God means loving him for who he really is in all these
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facets. And what's so important is that
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Jesus's own vision of who God is, His understanding clearly
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influences everything he says and does.
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It's a love based on truth, not on some image we make up.
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We have to grapple with the God who is revealed, not just the
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God we might wish for. This leads us right to the
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central, really indispensable role of Jesus.
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You mentioned He's the ultimate revelation of God and also,
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interestingly, a kind of litmus test for whether we truly love
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God. That's a powerful way to put it,
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a litmus test. And yes, Jesus's central aim
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seems utterly clear. He came into the world to make
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God known that he might be truly loved.
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It's almost like he saw knowledge and love as, you know,
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two sides of the same coin and he himself was the key to
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unlocking both. Absolutely.
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And he says it's so directly himself in John 14, doesn't he?
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Verses 7 through 9 where he tells his disciples, Whoever has
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seen me has seen the Father. Think about what that means for
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a second. Jesus so perfectly embodies
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God's nature, his character, his very being, that to truly see
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Jesus, to really grasp who he is, is to see the Father.
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There's no going around Jesus to get to God.
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He is the clearest, most direct window we have into the divine.
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And the scope of this revelation through Jesus is just
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unparalleled. Our sources say He makes God
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known more clearly and more fully than any other revelation
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ever. No prophet, no writing, gives us
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the access to understanding God that we get through Him.
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And this progression is really important to grasp.
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Before Jesus came, the scripture certainly pointed towards him,
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right? Jesus himself said this in John
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5.39. You search the scriptures and it
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is they that bear witness about me.
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The Old Testament foreshadowed him.
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Exactly, it was a preparation, but now with Jesus actual
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arrival, his life, his teachings, his death and
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resurrection, it is the revelation of Jesus himself that
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awakens love to God. It's not just a set of ideas
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anymore. It's a person, a living reality
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that stirs our affections toward God.
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And that key statement from Jesus in Matthew 11.7 really
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nails this uniqueness. No one knows the Father except
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the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
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It makes it incredibly clear that true saving knowledge of
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God isn't just mediated, but exclusively revealed through
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Jesus. There's no other route to
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genuinely know God as Father. And Jesus made God's name, which
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means his character and identity, known to his
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disciples. And he continues to do that even
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now. As John 17.26 says, this isn't
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just about learning facts about God, but an intimate, personal,
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and always deepening revelation that transforms our relationship
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with Him. It's like being invited into the
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inner life of God through the sun.
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So if Jesus is the unique revealer that brings us back to
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that idea of him being the litmus test for loving God, how
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does receiving him, or maybe rejecting him function as this
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test? It's a critical point.
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Our sources make it clear that receiving Jesus becomes the
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ultimate measure of loving God and having him as our Father.
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If someone claims to love God, their response to Jesus, the
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living revelation of God, shows the truth of that cling.
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Jesus puts it pretty bluntly. He does in John 8.42.
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If God were your Father, you would love me.
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There's just no separating the Father from the Son here,
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because the Son is the perfect embodiment of the Father's
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character and will. Which means that if we deny
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Jesus, if we reject him, it's essentially like rejecting God
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himself, because Jesus is so fully God reflecting and God
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exalting that denying him means denying God.
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That's a sobering thought, reflected in places like Luke 10
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and John 5. It is.
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It means it's simply not possible to claim genuine love
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for God while pushing Jesus away or refusing to acknowledge him.
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They're completely linked. And this incredible revelation
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of God through Jesus, it isn't just for, say, intellectual
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understanding or testing our loyalty.
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It actually fulfills an old prophecy and has a real impact
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on us internally, altering our hearts.
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Yes, it connects directly back to Deuteronomy 30, verse 6.
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That passage speaks of the circumcision of the heart, a
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promise that God would one day act inside his people, changing
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their hearts so that they would love Him.
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And that's a spiritual metaphor, right?
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Not literal, right? In the Old Testament, the
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circumcised heart symbolized in inward turning towards God, a
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readiness to obey and love him from the core, not just outward
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ritual. Jesus is coming makes this
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internal transformation, this divine work on the heart, truly
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possible. So we can't love God without
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Jesus revealing him. Essentially, yes.
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We can't truly love God apart from the revelation of Jesus,
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because he is the one who enables this change in our
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hearts. He enables us to truly know God,
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and in knowing him through Christ, we start to see him as
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compellingly beautiful. It's a work of the Spirit made
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possible by Jesus that moves us from being spiritually
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unresponsive to having heartfelt affection.
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OK, so we've established this love as an inward affection, a
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delight rooted in knowing God through Jesus.
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Now let's circle back to the comprehensive nature of the
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command. What does it really mean when
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Jesus says love God? With all these aspects, heart,
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soul, mind, and strength? It feels like more than just a
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list. It is our sources break it down,
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explaining it means every faculty and every capacity of
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our being should express the fullness of our affection for
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God, the fullness of all the ways that we treasure him.
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So let's look at each one Heart. We often think emotion, but it's
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more the core of who you are, your desires, your will, the
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center of your inner world. The command center, yeah.
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Kind of. It includes thoughts, too.
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As Luke 1 suggests, it's seen as the primary source from which
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this love flows, where genuine affection starts.
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Then soul, what about that? Soul refers more to our life as
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a whole, our complete personhood.
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Sometimes it's even set apart from the body, like in Matthew
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10 where Jesus talks about God destroying both body and soul.
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So this isn't just one aspect, it's our entire being, our very
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existence called the Love God, a total life devotion.
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OK. And mind that seems clearer.
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Mind highlights our thinking capacity, our intellect, our
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thoughts, our reasoning, our understanding.
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All need to be directed and loving God.
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This isn't about blind faith, but a faith that engages our
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intellect, allowing us to understand His character, His
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ways, and to do that with delight.
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Or to know him intellectually too, appreciating his wisdom.
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And finally, strength. Strength refers to our capacity
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to make vigorous efforts, both hysically and mentally.
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Think of the woman reaching out in Mark 5, or Jesus telling
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disciples to be alert in Luke 21.
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Our actions, our energy, our endurance, our resilience, all
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are meant to be expressions of this comprehensive love, putting
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our whole self into actively honoring God.
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So the unified aim of bringing all these together, heart, soul,
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mind, strength, is what? It's treasuring God above all
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else. Loving God in its most essential
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form is treasuring God. Not just valuing him, but
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holding him as our most precious possession, our ultimate
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satisfaction. That's the core definition.
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And this treasuring has to be comprehensive, touching every
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part of us, every faculty in every capacity treasures God.
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I love all things and all consuming devotion.
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And here's a really critical nuance, one that challenges how
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we often live. Our treasuring of any other
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thing is also a treasuring of God.
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This means we can't treasure anything else in God's place, or
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even alongside him in a way that competes.
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What does that look like practically?
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Well, if one of our human capacity, say our intellect,
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finds joy in learning or our body finds pleasure in activity,
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if that pleasure isn't also a delight in God, maybe because it
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leads us away from him or is enjoyed completely separate from
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him, then God hasn't truly been loved with that capacity in that
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moment. It suggests this incredible
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spiritual integration where all good things are meant to be
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enjoyed through Him and for Him. That idea resonates strongly
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with some parts of the Psalms, where God is called the very
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gladness of all joys. Psalm 43.4, for instance, talks
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about God as my exceeding joy, or maybe the gladness of my
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rejoicing. Yes, exactly.
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This points to God Himself is the ultimate source and the true
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fulfillment of all our joy, in all our rejoicing over all the
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good things God has made, all the wonderful moments in life.
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God Himself is meant to be the heart of my joy, the gladness of
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my joy. He's the substance within the
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joy. That's a good way to put it.
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Every legitimate delight should ultimately lead us back to Him,
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to find Him as the truest and deepest satisfaction within that
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delight itself. And our sources warned that any
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joy that doesn't have God as its central gladness, if it's just
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enjoyed for itself apart from Him, is ultimately a hollow joy.
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It lacks real substance and will, in the end, just burst
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like a bubble. It won't last.
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This lines up perfectly with Augustine's famous prayer.
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He loves the too little who loves anything together with
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thee, which he loves not for thy sake.
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It's a really sharp insight into the all-encompassing, singular
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nature of this required affection.
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And the Psalms push this exclusivity even further, don't
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they? Psalm 73.25 Whom have I in
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heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth
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that I desire besides you. Or Psalm 16.2.
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I have no good apart from you. These are just, you know, nice
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religious poems. They reveal a heart that finds
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its complete contentment and fulfillment in God alone.
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OK, so this profound, all-encompassing love for God,
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how does it connect with what Jesus called the second great
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commandment, loving our neighbor?
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Our sources seem clear. There's a distinction and a
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definite hierarchy between the two.
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That's right, Jesus himself made that differentiation clear when
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asked about the greatest commandment in Matthew 22.
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He separated the 1st and the 2nd.
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They're connected, absolutely, but they are not the same and
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the order matters a lot. So loving God is primary.
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Yes, Loving God is presented as primary and depends on no
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greater obedience. It's the source, the foundation.
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Loving our neighbor is secondary and depends on loving God.
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One naturally flows from the other, rather than them being
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equal in essence or priority. So we can confidently say loving
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God cannot just be redefined as loving our neighbor.
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They are distinct acts, distinct affections, even if they are
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closely related. Definitely distinct, however,
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the relationship between them is vital.
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Our sources explain that true love for God will always bring
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about love for people. It's an inevitable consequence.
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The behaviors of love towards others, kindness, justice, mercy
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are seen as the overflow or fruit of loving God, not the
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essential meaning of loving God itself.
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Like water spilling over from a full.
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Cup exactly. If your glass is full and
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overflowing, it's because the source is abundant.
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Similarly, our acts of love toward others should be a
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tangible sign of an internal God centered love that has nowhere
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else to go but outward. The external acts as a
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compelling result of the internal reality of treasuring
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God. Jesus himself gave a strong
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example of this, showing the practical side.
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He criticized the Pharisees. Remember in Luke 11 they were
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meticulous about tithing tiny herbs.
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Down to the Minta Roux. Right, but they neglected true
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justice and crucially, the love of God.
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He wasn't saying don't tithe, but he stressed that both should
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be done. Yet the love of God is
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foundational. It gives meaning and
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authenticity to the outward acts.
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Without that deep affection for God, even seemingly righteous,
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his acts become hollow, maybe even self-serving.
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They had the behavior, perhaps, but without the heart for God,
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their actions lacked real integrity.
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OK, finally, as we wrap up this deep dive, we need to touch on a
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warning, a pretty solemn warning from Jesus himself.
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A prophecy about the future. Yes, it's important we heed
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this. He warned that in the last days
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Matthew 24.12 because lawlessness is increased, most
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people's love will grow cold. That's a significant and frankly
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sobering caution for us today, isn't it?
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It's not just a prediction about them back then.
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It implies that genuine, heartfelt love for God isn't
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automatic or permanent. It needs tending.
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It can actually diminish. And the principle for
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maintaining and even increasing our love for God is
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straightforward, though applying it takes effort.
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We will love Him to the degree that we know Him.
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Knowledge fuels affection is by understanding more of His
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character, His goodness, His ways, that our hearts are
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stirred to greater delight. Like any relationship, really.
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In a way, yes. Just as you grow to love a
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person more by spending time with them and truly getting to
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know them, so it is with God. And the pathway to that deeper
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knowledge? The solution seems singular.
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According to our sources, only Jesus can make him known in
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truth and fullness. Back to Matthew 11.27.
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He is the exclusive way to that kind of deep personal
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transforming knowledge of God. No shortcuts.
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Exactly no other method reveals God with such clarity and, well,
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compelling attractiveness. Therefore, the call to us is
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clear. We must continually look
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steadily at Jesus and pray that he would reveal God as
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compellingly beautiful. It's an ongoing thing.
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It has to be a continuous pursuit, an active engagement
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with the One who reveals God most fully.
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It means spending time in His words, reflecting on his life
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and work, and asking the Spirit to open our eyes to see the
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Father in Him. It's an ongoing gaze, a constant
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turning of our attention and affection towards Him.
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And we should remember that core truth that anchors all of this.
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Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
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As Jesus declared in John 14.9. That truth should really compel
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us not just to understand these ideas, but to keep our gaze
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fixed on Him, the source of all true delight, the One who makes
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God truly known and truly loved. Wow, that really has been a rich
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deep dive. We've uncovered that loving God
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is this comprehensive inward affection and delight, a supreme
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treasuring of Him with our entire being.
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And it's absolutely rooted in knowing Him and made possible,
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revealed in its fullness only through Jesus Christ.
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Indeed, maybe something for you to consider as you go about your
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day. If our love for God is truly
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expressed in treasuring Him above all else, where might you
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identify a place in your life, Maybe a specific joy or
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pleasure, and a good thing that might not currently be an
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expression of your delight in God?
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How might you pursue God as the central gladness of that
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specific joy, so that even that good thing becomes a pathway
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back to Him? That's a powerful thought to
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carry with us. Until next time, may you
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continually gaze upon the Lord, the true source of all lasting
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gladness.