What does it mean to love the Lord with your strength?

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:5

I am sure that we have all heard the great commandment from Deuteronomy 6:5 to love the Lord with all of our heart, mind, and strength. Throughout the Bible, this command is continually held up as the pinnacle of what the Christian life is to be centered around (along with loving our neighbors as ourselves). Jesus confirmed this in the Gospels when He answered the questioning of the scribes in Mark 12:28-34.

Loving God with our hearts and minds seems very practical and easy to understand. Loving usually has to do with matters of the heart and we all know about the unseen world of our minds that must be continually reigned in and governed to love the Lord. But what does it mean to love the Lord with all of our strength or might?

We are commanded to love him with the things that make us strong. We are to love Him with our accomplishments, our influence, and all of our tangible capacities. I like to look at it this way: What am I good at? What is my strength? What do I have going for me? Money, abilities, influence, talents, time? What am I capable of?

Practical Application:

1. Make a list. Write down the top 10 things that you have “going for you”.
2. Identify. Are you loving God with these things? Do they point to Jesus? Would a complete stranger be able to see it?
3. Pray. Ask the Holy Spirit! Jesus told us very clearly: “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. …He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak…” (John 16:7, 13) Ask the Holy Spirit to show you how to love God with these things. Ask Him to remind you to keep loving God with your everything in the day to day, throughout your life.
4. Love Him. Love Him by using the money He has given you for His glory. Love Him by raising your children as unto Him. Love Him by spending your time and your energy listening to Him, praising Him, thanking Him and obeying Him. Love Him with your ability to throw awesome parties. Love Him with your ability to paint, sew, and write. Love Him with your influence in the workplace. Love Him with your ability to see into peoples lives and encourage them. Love Him with the talents that you posses. Love Him with your gift of teaching, with your gift of serving, with your gift of encouragement. Love Him with your relationships.

We are commanded to love him with the things that make us strong.

We always have a choice. Choose to love Him. Be a light in the world. When all of our might and strength are being used to love God we will look more like Jesus. Our strengths and might will actually be loving God.