WholeheartedSample

Jesus said that the two most important things to do are to, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus modeled that the measure of love which you show people, is the measure of love which you show God. Loving God and loving others can’t be separated. But what about when you don’t feel like loving God, or loving your neighbor?

The answer? Choose to love anyway.

We tend to make decisions and choices based on our feelings, or what’s popular in the world. Feelings are fickle and don’t tell the full truth or the whole story. When Jesus commanded us to love God with all our hearts, and to love our neighbor as ourselves, He was inviting us into a better and different kind of love, one not merely based on emotions. This love is an agape love – a Greek word meaning a love rooted in choice.

Loving Jesus wholeheartedly means to love Him regardless of how we actually feel. It means we choose to be committed to God. We may not always feel like being committed, but loving Jesus wholeheartedly is a choice. It’s choosing – each day, each hour, each moment – to follow and love Him wholeheartedly, regardless of how we might feel.

When you don’t feel like loving Jesus, how can you choose to be committed to Him anyway?