Jesus speaks these words when asked what the greatest commandment is. His response is also recorded in the Gospels of Mark and Luke.

“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Mark 12:30 ESV

“And he answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’” Luke 10:27 ESV

His response echos the first of the Ten Commandments given to the Israelites by God through Moses: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3 ESV). This command becomes a Call to Worship for the Israelites: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5 ESV). And after Moses tells the Israelites they will be scattered because of their idolatry, he speaks these words of hope: “But from these you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 4:29 ESV).

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The geek in me wanted to know the original meaning of these words repeated in the Old and New Testaments – when the original hearers heard Moses and Jesus speak these words, what did they understand them to mean?

Let’s check them out. (Source: The New Strong’s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible)

Hebrew (Old Testament)

    Heart: the seat of desire or inclination or will; the inner part of man

    Might: noun, wholly, much, exceedingly

    Soul: all that a person is; inner part of a human

Greek (New Testament)

    Heart: most important organ in the human system; man’s entire mental and moral activity, both the rational and the emotional elements

    Soul: the seat of feelings, desires, affections, aversions; differs from the body and is not dissolved by death

    Mind: imagination; understanding

    Strength: the full extent of the power wherewith we are to love God

    Understanding: intelligence; putting together

We are to love God with our whole selves. Not just our hearts. Not just our souls. Not just our minds. The God who created us commands us to love Him with all that we are.

And when we love God first, then we want to love others.

“And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” Jesus speaking in Mark 12:33 ESV

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So how do with do this? We pause and reflect. We connect ourselves to God, letting Him work in us. We act with intentionality. We live our lives for Him (not only on Sunday). And we don’t stop. Even on the days when we feel like we’re failing, we don’t stop. Even on days when it’s hard, we don’t stop.

“And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil.” Deuteronomy 11:13-14 ESV