The Love Test

KEY VERSE:
Luke 10:27 (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.”

Today God’s Word will test our love for Him.

Psalm 139:23
Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!

 

I. DO YOU LOVE GOD WITH ALL OF YOUR HEART?

Luke 10:27 (ESV)
And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart

A. Good deeds, religious acts and good behavior are meaningless if our hearts do not belong to God.

1 Samuel 16:7
“For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”

B. We judge others by human standards but God sees the heart of the person.

Proverbs 21:2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.

C. Giving our hearts to God is the very first step to Salvation.

 

II. DO YOU LOVE GOD WITH ALL OF YOUR SOUL?

Luke 10:27 (ESV)
And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul

A. Our souls are who we really are. Not who we pretend to be.

Matthew 23:1-3 1
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, 3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.

B. What comes out of us reflects our inner selves (souls).

Matthew 15:19
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

 

III. DO YOU LOVE GOD WITH ALL OF YOUR  STRENGTH?

Luke 10:27 (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

A. We can only go so far on our own strength. We let go and let God!

John 15:5
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

 

IV. DO YOU LOVE GOD WITH ALL OF YOUR MIND?

Luke 10:27 (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,

A. God wants our thoughts to be about Him and His Word.

Joshua 1:8
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

B. We must surrender our thoughts to Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:5
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

 

V. DO YOU LOVE OTHER AS YOU LOVE YOURSELF?

Luke 10:27 (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.”

A. DO YOUR ACTIONS HELP OTHERS OR HURT THEM?

Matthew 23:4
They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.

B. DO YOU JUDGE OTHERS?

Romans 2:1-3
1 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.
2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things.
3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?

 

CONCLUSION:
Ask God today to open your heart up to His Love. By receiving His Love you will be able to give it to others. You must possess something before you can give it away.