Loving God With All Our Strength

By John Chesnut, Wycliffe USA President/CEO

Post date: Feb. 10, 2020

“Give it all you’ve got!”

“Leave it all on the field.”

Have you heard these phrases before? Have you used them? I have. In fact, a high work ethic is something that has been instilled in me since childhood. But I realize I’ve incorrectly applied this works-centric line of thinking into my relationship with my heavenly Father.

In loving God with all my “heart, soul, mind and strength” I have, at times, chosen to live out strength as doing more for the Lord. “Giving it all I’ve got” to ministry. “Leaving it all on the field” and wearing myself out by doing more.

This isn’t what Mark meant when he talked about loving God with all our strength. “Strength,” when used in this context, means giving with “all of our being” and “our whole self.” It doesn’t mean doing more things (see the devotional for a further explanation of the word “strength”). In fact, we can diminish our ability to fully engage with “all of our strength” if our sole focus is on doing.

I cannot give my best to knowing God when I am worn out from doing things for God. When I'm focused on doing things at the expense of my relationship with him, I end up relying on my own strength instead of existing from the outpouring of his strength. When left unchecked, relying on my own strength instead of God’s leads to exhaustion, feeling overworked and even experiencing burnout.

But in Christian ministry, we sometimes quietly applaud people who are “busy”; they must be loving God with all their strength, right? After all, they’re doing so much for the kingdom!

It’s easy to equate working for God with loving him with all our strength. But I want my service to flow out of my relationship with God and love for him. I want to be a person who pursues a relationship with my heavenly Father with all my strength of being and with fervent energy and passion.

Questions for Reflection:

• Have you ever equated “strength” with busyness? What would it look like for you to think about strength differently?

• What do you think it means to “love God with all your strength”?

• What is God teaching you about what it really means to love him with all your strength?

Discover what it looks like to love God with all your strength in our devotional.

Para leer el devocional en español oprima aquí.