Heart, Soul, Mind, or Strength?

Yesterday we looked at Luke 10:25-37 and saw that the greatest of the Bible’s commandments, the ones on which all other commandments hang, are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
This week I would like give some practical Spiritual Formation tips for us to engage in with the hopes that the Spirit of God would do a transforming work in us. Today I want to challenge you to consider what part of you (your heart, your soul, your mind, or your strength) needs to encounter the love of Almighty God. We will be asking God to do some identifying so that we can start unlearning some of the things which we broken and sinful patterns which we have learned. Think of it like house cleaning.
Today I want to walk us all through the first step in our journey, a process of by which we might allow the Holy Spirit to help us identify our prejudices and then begin the process of allowing the love of Jesus Christ to flow into us and thought us so that we can be holistically changed into His likeness.
This week’s process is simple but it is not simplistic or magic or necessarily once-and-for-all. It will take time and effort on our part and it requires, more than anything else, intimacy with God, honestly with ourselves, and the transforming work of the Holy Spirit.
Ok…here is the first step of the week:
Read – If you don’t know where to start you might want to read the passage we looked at this week in service, Luke 10:25-37.
Pray – Ask God to show you where your unloving, unfaithful, or prejudice unctions take root and manifest themselves. Is it your heart (emotions), your soul (will), your mind (intellect), your strength (body)? After you ask God to show you where you fall short take time to stop and listen for His answer.
Listen – One of the most neglected aspects of prayer is listening. If we are to be changed then we must listen to what the Lord has to say regarding our unloving actions, thoughts, intentions, or feelings. Let Him tell you where to start. Ask God to show you what part of you is in greatest need of transformation? Is it your heart? Then begin by allowing the Spirit of God to bring to your mind all of the ways in which you have been unloving or harbored prejudice in your heart and then in repentance tell God that you are turning toward Him and from your sin in repentance and ask for His help to do so.
Respond – Ask the Lord is bringing these unloving things to your mind then take a few minutes to write down what has come to your mind. Where does He want to start? Is it your soul, your mind, your strength or your heart that is out of whack? (Maybe it is more than one area but what area is in the need of the most urgent attention) Now think of a few examples of when and how you are not loving God with your heart, soul, mind and/or strength and then commit that part (or those parts) of yourself in prayer renouncing your right to control yourself and ask Him to help you love Him more effectively.
Thanks for taking the time to open yourselves up to the Holy Spirit. I pray that we will all allow God to continually and consistently rescue us from drowning in our anemic Love-life as we seek to love Him more.

I was a sailor, I was lost at sea
I was under the waves
Before love rescued me I was a fighter,
I could turn on a thread
Now I stand accused of the things I've said
When Love comes to town I'm gonna jump on that train
When love comes to town I'm gonna catch that flame
Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down
But I did what I did before love came to town
(Verse 1 and Chorus of: When Love Comes to Town, by U2)