In Matthew 10, a lawyer asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. The answer: "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 you shall love your neighbor as yourself." (v.27) 

God wants your whole life; He isn't interested in just a part of it. He doesn't just want your Sunday mornings. He wants it all. 52 weeks a year. In the last couple of weeks, I touched on what it looks like to love and serve with all your heart and soul… but what about your strength? 

I like to think of loving the Lord with all your strength as loving the Lord with all the things that make you strong or stable in life: your accomplishments, your influence, your paycheck, your talents, your time, etc.—in other words, using these things for God's glory. However, if you are like me, sometimes your strength gets tired, or sick, or depressed, or wounded, and we don't love God very well, or we only love Him with a part of ourselves. When this happens, we favor some "spiritual muscles" over others, which leaves us with a lopsided life. 

For example, I often find myself loving God through my actions. This is natural because I'm a "get it done" guy. But what about loving God with my undivided time and attention? What about listening to Him? Waiting on Him? Being still in His presence? 

Currently, I am working on loving God through the strength of silence, more specifically, my silence. 

I don't do silence very well. If you listen to the iWork4Him podcast, you know I am not a quiet guy. Well, my mind is the same way. I am always thinking about many things. My brain is whirling all the time. So I neglect the spiritual practice of silence. 

So how do I love the Lord with all my strength? 

I let Him train me through my weaknesses. Silence is a weakness in my life. I love my Father, and I am so grateful for Him in my life, and because of that, I want to give Him my best all the time. However, I have many things that aren't in the "best" condition, so I give them to Him to work on and refine through the power of the Holy Spirit. Being Silent is a strength I don't possess, but I want to so I can hear His voice all day long in my work. When I am quiet, He can direct me in His ways rather than my ways. 

In 1 Timothy 4:8, the Apostle Paul writes, "Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come." Spiritual training is worth the time and effort. It gives back ten-fold in this life and the next. So, if you have a chance today, pray for the strength of silence to grow in my life. 

And what about you? What are the spiritually weak areas of your life that you want God to strengthen so that you can love Him with everything – both at work and at home? What areas of your life need some spiritual muscle? 

We talked with counselor Dr. Jessica Rothmeyer recently about taking the areas of our life that are damaged, tired, worn out, or traumatized and strengthening them through a renewed mind in Christ. Pump up your faith by tuning in to this incredible interview.  

- Jim