Wholehearted: A 7-Day Standard Operating Procedure for Loving GodSample

Today we will look at what it means to love the Lord with all your soul. First, we must determine what the soul is. If we know the heart is one’s innermost being, then the defining aspect of the soul is one’s spirit. The Greek word used in Jesus’ command translates to breath or spirit. So how does one love the Lord with all your soul?

We must allow God to give us a new spirit before we can love him with our whole soul. When sin entered the world, it resulted in the death of our souls. However, God sent his Son to die for all sins, so our spirit may live eternally. When believers trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, our old spirit has died with Christ, and our new spirit is then raised with Christ. No longer are we governed by the spirit of the flesh. Instead, we are given the Spirit of God, who dwells within us.

Loving God with all of our soul means putting to death the desires of the flesh. Putting away the things our old spirit sought. As the Holy Spirit fills us, our desires and actions change. The fruit of the Spirit is produced within us. We must ask God to reveal where we are not producing his fruit and, with open hands, allow him to prune our fleshly spirits. Because we are still in this world, we will not be completely free from the desires of the flesh, but we have the power of the Spirit within to deny those desires.

The battle we fight between our flesh and our Spirit is similar to the struggles that we face in the military. Military values are instilled in us; however, we still wrestle with the civilian identity we once had. That’s where good mentors come into play. They can help show us the way and gently point out areas where we may not be fully submitting to the Lord.

This is an act of the Holy Spirit because the same Spirit who lives in you is the same Spirit who lives in all who have faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Ultimately, it comes down to allowing the Spirit to work inside you. Will you choose to allow the Spirit to have control, or will you allow your flesh to hold the reins?