“Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:4-5
As we think about raising the children in our lives, including sons and daughters, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and the children of our close friends, the thing that each of us most certainly wants for them is that they will love God more than anything else in this world. This begins with modeling a love for Christ in our own lives. You see, our children are observing how we talk about our faith and how we practice our faith every single day. Whether we realize it or not, we are setting an example for them, for better or for worse, of how to love God more than anything else in this world.
God issued a call through Moses to the Israelites to love Him over everything else in Deuteronomy 6. In this chapter, Moses gave the Israelites instructions from God about how to live. He began these instructions by saying, “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength” (verses 4-5). Because God is the one and only God, He is deserving of every ounce of our worship. There is nothing and no person greater than Him or worthy of our worship. Notice the way God’s people are called to love Him in this passage of Scripture: with our whole hearts, souls, and strength. In summary, we are to love God with our entire beings and more than anything else in this entire world. Everything we say and do is to be rooted in our deep love for God.
When we love God with everything in us and more than anyone or anything else, our love for God radiates through everything we do. It impacts how we act and how we speak. The children in our lives take notice of how we are living, too. May each one of us seek to love God more than anything else, and may the children in our lives see our love for God and develop a deep love for Him.
When it comes to loving God over anything else, how are you doing? Is there something in your life that has taken a spot in your life that only He deserves? Confess that area to Him now. Tell Him you are sorry for the idols you have had in your life and commit to letting go of them. Ask Him to help you as you seek to do this.
Deuteronomy 6:1-6
1“These are the commands, decrees, and regulations that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you. You must obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy, 2 and you and your children and grandchildren must fear the Lord your God as long as you live. If you obey all his decrees and commands, you will enjoy a long life. 3 Listen closely, Israel, and be careful to obey. Then all will go well with you, and you will have many children in the land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.
4 “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.
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