The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon.

“‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’ And he said to him, ‘“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the great and foremost commandment.’”

—Matthew 22:36–38

What does it mean to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind? 

God must be first in our emotions, our will, our motives, our desires, our thoughts, and our intellect.

Some try to love him with their emotions but not with their will. Some try to love him with their thoughts and intellect but leave those pesky emotions out of it altogether.

This commandment reminds us that all three aspects must be involved in order to love God with our whole selves. 

If we try to love him with our thoughts and emotions but aren’t willing to love him in our souls—the seat of our will, desires, and effort—our love will be incomplete. If we try to love him with our wills through obedience and our minds through learning but don’t train our emotions to line up with his Word, we cripple our ability to love. 

Leaving any of these things out is like tying one hand behind our back while building a house. We might make progress, but it will be slow, cumbersome, and much harder than it has to be. 

Even worse, we might be working against ourselves. Every time we get a truth nailed up in our thoughts, our emotions may take it right back down. 

When we engage all of ourselves, we train ourselves to think, feel, and act according to the Word of God. This takes time and intentional effort, but the outcome is not only loving God, but internal peace and healing. 

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