The Greatest Commandment
Mat 22:36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
Mat 22:37 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.
To command means to direct with specific authority or prerogative, or to order. A commandment is an order to intentionally do something. This requires a conscious decision to act.
Since God is commanding man to love the Lord, then loving The Lord must be a decision, an act of the conscious will. People are wired to love God, but a decision to do so must be made. You cannot depend on your feelings alone to love God. That is why we are commanded to “love The Lord with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
God made us with a conscious mind and will, which are very hard to separate. These attributes make us able to make decisions, to discern truth (with the help of the Holy Spirit), and to act with self-control.
Man is the only creature that is made in the image of God. The characteristics that separate man from all other creatures are self-awareness and a rational mind. We are commanded to use these awesome gifts to Love the Lord.
The second commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”, is also a conscious decision and may be even more difficult to achieve. God is commanding us to love our neighbor, meaning everybody, as much as we love ourselves. This command is not humanly possible, unless you are already following the first commandment. A person will naturally feel love for a few people, but God is telling us we must love everyone as ourselves. You will never naturally feel this way about everyone, but with the help of the Holy Spirit, you can decide to do it.
A great place to begin is to ask God to help you love Him with all your heart, soul, and mind.