Topical Bible: The Heart: we should Love God With All

◄ The Heart: we should Love God With All ►

Jump to: Torrey's • Library • Subtopics • Terms

Topical Encyclopedia

The concept of the heart in the Bible is rich and multifaceted, often symbolizing the center of human emotion, will, and intellect. It is the seat of our affections and desires, and it plays a crucial role in our relationship with God. The command to love God with all our heart is a central tenet of biblical teaching, emphasizing the totality and sincerity of our devotion to Him.

Biblical Foundation

The command to love God with all one's heart is rooted in the Shema, a foundational Jewish prayer found in Deuteronomy 6:4-5: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength" . This passage underscores the comprehensive nature of the love and devotion God requires from His people.

Jesus reaffirms this commandment in the New Testament, highlighting its preeminence among the commandments. In Matthew 22:37-38, Jesus responds to a question about the greatest commandment: "Jesus declared, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment" . Here, Jesus emphasizes that loving God with all our heart is foundational to the life of faith.

The Heart as the Center of Devotion

In biblical anthropology, the heart is more than just the seat of emotions; it is the core of one's being, encompassing mind, will, and emotions. Proverbs 4:23 advises, "Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life" . This verse highlights the heart's central role in guiding one's actions and life choices.

The heart's condition is of utmost importance to God. In 1 Samuel 16:7, the LORD tells Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart" . This passage illustrates that God values the inner disposition of the heart over external appearances.

Wholehearted Love and Obedience

Loving God with all our heart involves a wholehearted commitment to His commandments and ways. In John 14:15, Jesus states, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments" . This connection between love and obedience is a recurring theme in Scripture, indicating that true love for God manifests in a life aligned with His will.

The call to love God with all our heart also involves a rejection of divided loyalties. In Matthew 6:24, Jesus teaches, "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money" . This passage warns against the dangers of a heart divided between God and worldly pursuits.

Transformation of the Heart

The Bible acknowledges the natural state of the human heart as inclined toward sin. Jeremiah 17:9 declares, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" . However, through the transformative work of the Holy Spirit, believers are given new hearts. Ezekiel 36:26 promises, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh" .

This transformation enables believers to love God fully and sincerely. Romans 5:5 affirms, "And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us" . The indwelling of the Holy Spirit empowers believers to fulfill the command to love God with all their heart.

Conclusion

The biblical call to love God with all our heart is a profound invitation to a life of complete devotion and obedience. It challenges believers to examine the state of their hearts, to guard against divided loyalties, and to seek the transformative work of the Holy Spirit. Through wholehearted love for God, believers find the true essence of their faith and the foundation for all other commandments.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

Matthew 22:37
Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

Love
... God have the heart divided; it must be the whole heart. ... love God, quod posse, as
much as we are able. Christians should be like seraphim, burning in holy love ...
//christianbookshelf.org/watson/the ten commandments/1 2 love.htm

Treatise on the Love of God
... OF THE AFFECTIONATE LANGUISHING OF THE HEART WOUNDED WITH ... COUNSELS, AND YET HOW EVERY
ONE SHOULD PRACTISE WHAT HE ... CHAPTER X. HOW WE ARE TO CONFORM OURSELVES TO ...
//christianbookshelf.org/francis/treatise on the love of god/

Of Love to God
... God does not require that we should bring money with us, only appetite ... lie on the
bosom, but Christ must lie in the heart. We must love God more than our estate ...
//christianbookshelf.org/watson/a divine cordial/of love to god.htm

An Exhortation to Love God
... We had something in us to provoke fury, but nothing to excite love. ... That Christ should
die for sinners! ... Feel My bleeding heart. See if I do not love you. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/watson/a divine cordial/an exhortation to love god.htm

Excellence of this virtue.
... During our sojourn in this world, we should learn from the ... The pure and perfect love
of God they enjoy there ... God called him a man after his own heart: "I have ...
/.../de liguori/uniformity with gods will/1 excellence of this virtue.htm

God's Love for Man
... agony of Gethsemane, the death of Calvary, the heart of Infinite ... in giving His Son
to die for us, should give us exalted conceptions of what we may become ...
//christianbookshelf.org/white/steps to christ/chapter 1 gods love for.htm

The Tests of Love to God
... him the glory of heaven in a vision; that he should deny Christ ... such signal love
from Him, this broke his heart with grief ... Do we shed the tears of godly sorrow? ...
//christianbookshelf.org/watson/a divine cordial/the tests of love to.htm

xiv. Upon the Love of God.
... As the whole attention of life should be to obey his commands, so the ... which therefore
we are to love with all our heart, with all our ... "Must we then, forgetting ...
//christianbookshelf.org/butler/human nature/sermon xiii xiv upon the.htm

Christian Perfection
... this second work of grace is accomplished in the heart. ... God; he has designed that
his people should all be one ... As we carefully read this prayer we can readily ...
/.../byers/sanctification/chapter viii christian perfection.htm

Waiting on God
... as this God above all circumstances, filling my heart and life ... And God created us,
that we might be the empty ... me every moment, and that my God should be nearer ...
//christianbookshelf.org/murray/the masters indwelling/iii waiting on god.htm