The commandment of love – The Burning Ones

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ [a]This is the first commandment. Mark 12:30

When you think of it, love is a strange thing to command. I have written briefly on agape, of serving love, but did not write much on the heart element of love at that time.

We have all heard the saying “love is a choice”; that is certainly true of the agape love we share between our Christian family members. But to love something with one’s whole heart demands more than service. The love described in the commandment is more than agape. To love with soul, mind and strength is to love with an emotional and some would even say passionate bond. As I mentioned previously, there are many words for love in the Greek language, because Love can take many forms. Love is more than just compassion and service; it is not always something we can rationalise or make happen through willpower.  Relational love is a thing beyond our control. We cannot compel it, and in other (romantic) contexts, it can compel man and woman alike to do the most unusual things as if it itself has a force upon us. Love is, by many means, is irrational.  

I have ‘tried’ to love God before. At certain times, I have felt my heart harden, and simltaneously other distractions have come, so I have tried to force my heart into love as a self- correction… and failed. So, in the context of our relationship with God, how do we come to terms with the fact that we have been commanded to do something that is beyond our human capacity to do?

While it is hard to create such a bond, emotional bonds do form with time and attention. These emotional bonds can exist in other areas too. We can form emotional connections with activities, characters and personalities on TV, people, work or even food. While they may not always be considered love, the more bonds we have, the more our emotional capacity becomes crowded. This was the state of my heart when I tried to self-correct. I did not first remove the competing bonds; I just tried to reinforce an important one amongst them all, but could not make it last.

The bride of Christ is likened to virgins, waiting for their bridegroom. (Matthew 25:1-13). Virgins in this context have no competing loves, and those who were ready and prepared to go were met by their groom and welcomed into the wedding feast. When my attempts to force love failed, I later looked back and realised exactly how full my heart was with many other passions. . So, I repented, my heart was presented fully to my Lord once more and again my passion was soon restored. I had not lost my salvation, but I had lost my passion and possibly failed to keep God above all others.

To love God with all our heart, the first step is to present our heart before Him, and know that His love will fill any space we offer. God won’t long rebuff our offering and will fulfil that commandment for us – if we permit him to do it and if we’re willing to pay the price.

My heart is to be a burning one before Him, that my primary care and focus will be for God and my family, whom God has given me. I love reading the testimonies of others who do great things for God, and they all seem to burn in the same passion. I believe God wants every believer to burn with the same flame, too.

Our hearts will burn with as much passion as we have for Him. If we give him a lot of fuel to burn, he will use it – but a surrendered heart that is willing to endure is not an easy thing to promise. The fire does not just burn with passion; it also purifies and tests our heart motives – but like the burning bush, it will do us no harm. Sacrifice is not self-satisfying, but it is fulfilling.

Regardless, I pray for wisdom for us all in the things that we choose to love. While the emotion of love is not entirely a choice, the things we choose to love are. And you have the power to choose.  

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
   let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
   that those who love your name may exult in you.
For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
   you cover him with favor as with a shield.

Psalm 5:11-12  ESV.