“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment.”

It doesn’t seem like a hard thing—loving God.  Most of us were raised with it.  We know who He is.  We know what He’s done for us.  And in our hearts, we love Him.

Love.  I use the word idly—I love a movie, or a book, or a song.  But do I really understand what it means?  What Christ has done for me, and how I should respond?  My love for Christ is nothing like Christ’s love for me.  He is selfless; I am constantly pressing myself to the forefront.  He is forgiving; I am stubborn.  He is perfect; I am a living image of imperfection.

It’s in my imperfections that I begin to lose myself.  It’s so easy to try to fix them myself—to approach it practically, and see what happens.  If I work hard enough, maybe I can cultivate that beautiful relationship with Christ that my whole being craves…

But it never happens that way.

The irony is maddening.  Love isn’t the goal; it’s the means.  I can’t help but wonder what would happen if I simply loved God more. Would there even be a need for anything else?  Or would He shine through me with such brilliance that all else becomes trivial?

Suddenly, the other things seem less significant; the work, no longer necessary.  I want to strip away the complexities in pursuit of a higher goal: to love Him more. Because only when we have learned from the Author of love can that love overflow to others.

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