Wholehearted: Living Life By The Greatest CommandmentSample

Whole Life Love for God

The Shema calls us to love God with all our heart, soul, and strength. These three words represent concentric circles of life. The heart is the inner circle. It refers to our inner lives, thoughts, and emotions. The soul, or self, is the next concentric ring and refers to the whole of our being, including our bodies and actions. Strength, the outer ring, is a reference to our impact in the world. It encompasses our family, wealth, possessions, and relationships.

Scott Redd, President of Reformed Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C., notes in his book, Wholehearted: A Biblical Look at the Greatest Commandment and Personal Wealth, that when taken together, these three concentric circles present a comprehensive picture of the human life. We are to love God in all these spheres. There is no aspect of our lives that is not to be devoted to the covenant God.

Our worship of God is not entirely inward; nor is it entirely superficial. Heart, soul, and strength are meant to be taken and understood together. They are not independent parts of a person, but are a unified, whole person. Our love for God is to extend from our innermost thoughts and emotions to the outer reaches of our impact in the world.

In every aspect of our being, we are to be enamored with the Lord who is one. The love of God must fill us even as the glory cloud filled the Tabernacle, chasing out whoever lingered there (Exod. 40:34-35). Let’s live this way! Let there be no room in our hearts for the accusations and deceptions that might live there. Let our love for God chase away the misdeeds of the body and badly chosen words. Let it encompass all of our relationships and material possessions.

At times we are so burdened by the brokenness of the world that we lose sight of our first love. Jesus Christ has given all that we might be in an all-encompassing love relationship with him. He knows us. He knows our frailty. He knows our capacity. He loves us beyond all measure, so let’s return and reflect that love to him in every aspect of our lives – with all our heart, soul, and strength.

Is your life coherent? Do you feel like your heart, soul, and strength are integrated in the wholehearted manner presented in the Shema?

Additional Elements

We are called to integrate our faith in every area of our lives so that our worship to God may be expressed inwardly and outwardly in everything we do. Learn more about how you can live a coherent, comprehensive faith in this study, Wholehearted, by the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics.