28One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.–Mark 12
Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. (Luke 9:23)
- This side of Heaven, you will never in your own power love God with all your heart.
- You will instead struggle with sin and selfishness.
- This is why Jesus commands self denial as the opening move of His follower.
- We must daily deny our selfishness and pursue Jesus.
- We naturally love ourselves and so only with God’s work in our live will we actually do this.
- Actually struggle with your struggles. Your goal is to love God with every part of you. Think of allegiance more than emotion when it comes to love.
- Repent of your sin. Pursue godliness in your emotions, thoughts, attitudes, motivations, words, and deeds. We all have work to do.–JMB
Joel M Bradshaw 
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