Loving with the Soul

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (ESV)
⁴  “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
⁵  You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

The Greatest Commandment, Jesus tells us is the "Shema" - the commandment that directs our hearts and soul, with all of our being's strength of purpose to love God.  Jesus laters expands and adds that we must love our neighbor as our self also.  

I talked a bit about loving God with all of our heart, but what do we mean when it is said to love him with all of our soul?  

The essence of the word "soul" is found in it's root word, which literally means "to breathe".  The Hebrew word expands on this meaning, and the Greek word for it in the New Testament is the word from which we get Psychology - "psuche".  It is "who we are" in our inner-most being.  It is the essence of who we are, the very life inside of us that makes us the person we are.  It is much more than just being alive, it is that essence of us that makes us the most alive, the person we really are.  We are able to function on much more than a physical level, we are able to function on a spiritual level because God has made us in his image, and God is a Spirit.  This is where God's beauty is displayed as each of us bears his image in its own unique way.  Like the snowflake each of us has God's unique design, and when we were made we were made with God to live within us.

To love God from the soul - in my estimation - means to turn ourselves towards him to listen, to hear with ears that want to hear, to see what he wants us to see, and to live in such a way that a relationship is intimate and full of life - beyond the human life...the abundant life that is full of purpose and meaning.

We live in a world that creates virtual relationships over web based social networks.  Catching snippets of people's actions, or words, does not a relationship make.  It can fool us into thinking we have many friends, and that friendship is just passing along information; but God hungers for our soul to be transformed from within our deepest level of being.

Our life in Christ is not an event, but a journey.  When I came to Christ at age 20 I knew the void and emptiness of a life lived for self; but what I didn't know was the life lived for purpose and meaning...the life of fellowship with Christ.  I was a child of God and it wasn't an issue of where my life would end; but it was an issue of where my life would travel, and how it would be lived.

I quickly surmised there were many areas of my life that were inconsistent with the love of Christ.  My language needed to change, my habits, my behavior, my thoughts within my mind, my passions, and desires, and not the least, my addictions.  All needed to be laid bare before God's love.  

David knew this in Psalm 51:1-4 (ESV) 

¹ Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
²  Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
³  For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
⁴  Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden they manifested that sin in "hiding".  The essence of loving God with all of our heart and all of our soul, is to not hide, but be free by coming to Him - to find mercy and cleansing...Over and Over again.

My sins were/are many, and the hesitation I felt in addressing the lengthy things did not become a burden, but instead, much like cleaning out an old closet, things became clearer, and life became uncluttered, changed from within.

Paul said to the Galatians, "I die daily"...it is a good thing to do.  To surrender our will each day to the love of God, along with His mercy and grace, and to find in Him a deep desire to help us find our way in this world.  That is what I think it means to love God with our heart and soul.

Peace