Love What He Loves
10 Practical Ways to Show Your Love for Jesus — Devotion 6 of 10
Matthew 22:37-39 — “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 first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Opening Reflection
Real love for a person naturally overflows into care for what, and who, they love. It is difficult to claim deep love for Jesus while remaining indifferent - or worse, hostile - to the people He loves. Jesus makes this connection explicit when He is asked which commandment is greatest.
He gives the expected answer first: love God with everything. But then He adds something unrequested: "a second is like it." Loving neighbor is not a separate task alongside loving God. Jesus deliberately links them so that one becomes the visible proof and extension of the other.
Taking a Devotional View
John makes this connection unavoidable: "whoever does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen" (1 John 4:20). Love for Jesus is not left abstract or theoretical. It is tested concretely, in ordinary relationships, with the actual people in front of us.
Notice too the whole-person nature of the command - heart, soul, and mind. Love for God is meant to engage the entire self, not emotion alone, and a love that fully engages the whole person will naturally move outward. Indifference toward others, however sincere our devotion feels internally, reveals a real gap in our love for Christ.
Key Thoughts & Takeaways
Key Thoughts
- Jesus ties love for God and love for neighbor together as inseparable (Matthew 22:37-39).
- Genuine love for God is proven, not replaced, by love for the people He loves (1 John 4:20).
- Love engages the whole person - heart, soul, and mind - not emotion alone.
- Indifference toward others reveals a gap in our love for Christ, however sincere our devotion feels.
Ask Yourself
- Is there someone I claim to love God while treating with indifference or contempt?
- How does my love for Jesus show up concretely in how I treat people this week?
- Which "neighbor" is hardest for me to love right now?
- What would loving God with my whole mind look like practically?
Lord, You have joined together love for You and love for others so closely that I cannot claim one while neglecting the other. Search my heart for anyone I have failed to love as You love them. Let my love for You overflow naturally into love for the people around me. In Jesus' name, amen.