All Of Me Loves All Of You

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Did you know “Sanskrit has ninety-six words for love; ancient Persian has eighty, Greek three, and English only one”?^a If English is your first language and you’ve struggled with words to express your loss, is it any wonder? With few words to express this deepest emotion, it’s hard to sum up all the ways you treasure and miss your person. Vocabulary is so limited! How do simple human words ever adequately convey what it means to have your person die?

The death of a loved one reveals to us the fullness of our emotions for that person. Those who experience the death of a challenging family member long for restored love. Those who enjoyed a friend’s intimacy in life now long for it in death’s separation. Death does not destroy love, but it does reshape how we’re able to express it. We may understand for the first time how our love for our person has infused everything we do, think, and say in life.

When Moses met with God to receive the Ten Commandments, God handed him two stones carved in love. These words expressed God’s love for his people. The Ten Commandments instructed Israel about how to live holy lives, but God wasn’t just interested in particulars—a world with no murder, stealing, or Sabbath-breaking. God never wanted his people to mix up the language of law with the language of love.

Above loving their spouses, their parents, their servants, or their neighbors, God wanted them to love him best of all. Rote compliance with a list of commandments could never prompt that kind of affection. So God made it clear. He commanded Israel to love him with everything: their hearts, their souls, and their minds. When they allowed God’s presence into every corner of their lives, Israel would communicate clearly their love for him.

As grieving Christians, God calls us to hold fast to our love for him even as we continue to love those who have died. In our mourning, all of our earthly loves should direct our affections toward God. In joy and in grief, God asks for our whole hearts. No matter what happens, he calls us to love him first and best of all.

What would it look like for you to move beyond compliance in your relationship with God? How could you express the inexpressible—the lavish kindness that God has poured out abundantly on you through Jesus? Your person’s influence and memory infuses your life and brings meaning to it. How much more can God’s presence produce good things as you invite him into your heart, soul, and mind? Today, ask God to help you love him with every part of you.

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

A Prayer: Dear Jesus, my loss has revealed to me how much love I had to give. Without my person, I’m not sure where all that love should go or how it can be expressed. I realize that this love I carry is only a shadow of the love you’ve called me to offer you in thanksgiving. Today, Lord Jesus, help me to love you best. Let my loss break open my heart so that I give it more freely to you. Possess every part of me—heart, mind, soul, and strength. I desire to love you with everything I have. Amen.

An Activity for Today: Loving and losing someone is an exhausting experience, and the weariness doesn’t just go away. Today, as an act of self-love, lie down for fifteen minutes and take a nap. Find a dark, quiet place to rest. Set a timer on your phone, and simply close your eyes. If you fall asleep, great! If you don’t, the rest can still count as restorative. We commend ourselves to God as we slip into the vulnerability of rest, and we rejoice in God’s sustaining grace as we rise. Let these normal rhythms remind you that God holds all of your days in his hands. You are always in his care, whether waking or sleeping.

A Song to Encourage Your Heart: “You Love Me Best” by Ellie Holcomb