Decoding the Torahنموونە

Love the Eternal Lord

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” —Deuteronomy 6:5

This law is part of Judaism’s most important prayer declaration, called the Shema. It is recited by Orthodox Jews every morning and evening and are the last words a Jew is to utter before death.

When Rabbi Yeshua was asked what the most important commandment was, He answered by quoting this mitzvah from Deuteronomy 6:5. This helps us gain a sense of how Jewish the New Testament is.

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’”—Matthew 22:36–37

Sometimes, we think of God as so big and far away that it escapes us that He can be moved by our love for Him. Yet this commandment and central precept of the Torah—to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and might—shows us how important it is to God to be loved by His people.

Notice this law commands us to love God with all our heart, soul, and might, representing our entirety. But how do we love God? Consider that loving God in Judaism is not first an experience, feeling, or even a belief but is rather an action. Jews believe that souls should be evaluated not so much by their intellectual beliefs but by their concrete actions. For Jews, one loves God by studying the Torah, keeping the mitzvot, practicing tikkun olam (Hebrew for “repairing the world”), and doing good unto others.

We can see this mindset of expressing our love and faith through action in the New Testament. Consider both the words of Rabbi Yeshua and those of the apostle James, Jesus’ half-brother.

“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me.” —John 14:21

“What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, ‘You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.’ You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?” —James 2:14–20

Loving God, then, is not first an emotion but is a disposition that determines our behavior and attitude. Loving God is our orientation and posture. We are commanded to love God because He is deserving of our honor and adoration and because love is the essence of life. God is love (1 John 4:8).

It needs to be stated, however, that the ability to love God is itself a grace we receive from Him. As 1 John 4:19 says, “We love, because He first loved us.” This understanding calls us to realize that our capacity to love God begins with His initiative to reveal Himself to us.

Because loving God requires action, it involves bringing our thoughts and words into obedience to His lordship. As 2 Corinthians 10:5 states, “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” This means we show our love for God by aligning our minds with His will.

Honoring the mitzvah to love the eternal God (Deut. 6:5) is not an abstract concept but a daily, lived reality. Loving God involves obeying His commandments, dedicating our thoughts to Him, and following Yeshua. By striving to love God with all our heart, soul, and might, we fulfill this central and foundational commandment and are brought into the experience of His fullness.

Want to read the rest? Check out Rabbi Kirt A. Schneider’s book, “Decoding the Torah,” available where books are sold.