Deuteronomy With JesusSýnishorn

Commanding love

The command to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” is one of the most famous parts of the Old Testament—probably largely because Jesus highlighted it as the “greatest commandment” in our second passage. Many of us know it well – but how many of us have thought hard about what it means?

It is actually much more challenging—even controversial—than we often realise.

The first unexpected element is that it is a command. That might sound like stating the obvious, but it’s an aspect of it that really jars with our modern ideas and preconceptions. For most of us in our culture today, we think of love as primarily an emotion, a feeling. It is something that we “fall” into – or out of. You can’t control who you love. Except you can.

God commands us to love him and actually, he then also commands us to love each other. That immediately makes our understanding of love shift from something passive to something deliberate and active. Love is not something involuntary, but something we can (and must) choose to do. The greatest commandment is this: to love the Lord your God.

I have recently become a father for the first time. I have found that reflecting on the love I have for my daughter has helped me to understand what God is calling us to do here. As I’ve been discovering, love for children is both a delight-filled joy, and hard work. It’s a love that requires quite a lot of effort—all the crying and the nappies and the sleepless nights! It’s the one relationship in our culture where love is still synonymous with hard work and effort, and that helps me grasp what it means to choose to love someone pro-actively and deliberately - as God calls us to do in this verse.

The second unexpected element of this command is the priority that it is given. Jesus highlighted this as the greatest and most important command.

This is the big one. If this is the greatest commandment, then this is bigger than ‘don’t steal’ or ‘don’t’ lie’ or ‘don’t murder.’ It’s bigger than ‘love your neighbour.’ This is the most important calling on your life - more important than your career, or your morals. This is more important than staying true to yourself. This outranks your responsibility to your family. Is that really what Jesus was saying? Well…yes.

The Bible does emphasise some of those other things as well, but Jesus is very clear here that loving God comes first. Our love for God is the wellspring and starting point for everything else.

I don’t know about you, but I find that really challenging! Do I really love God pro-actively and deliberately and as my first priority in life?

Prayer

Take some time to reflect on your love for God and ask him to help you love him more and more proactively.