The Greatest Commitment: Loving God with Everything You Have

From the sermon on January 11, 2026

The Greatest Commitment: Loving God with Everything You Have

In a world filled with competing priorities and endless distractions, one question cuts through the noise with startling clarity: Do you love God with all of your being?
It's not a comfortable question. Most of us would hesitate before answering with an unqualified "yes." And that hesitation reveals something profound about the nature of true commitment to God.

The Standard That Hasn't Changed
When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment in the law, He didn't offer something new or revolutionary. Instead, He reached back to Deuteronomy 6:4-5, reminding His listeners of an ancient truth: "You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your strength."

This wasn't just the greatest commandment under the Old Covenant—it remains the greatest commandment today. The standard hasn't changed. God still expects His children to love Him completely, wholeheartedly, without reservation.

But what does this actually mean?

The heart encompasses the whole person—all thoughts, words, and attitudes. The soul refers to the eternal spirit, the very essence of who we are. The mind includes our intellect and will. And strength encompasses not just physical power, but moral and spiritual fortitude as well.

The great commandment is to make the greatest commitment.

This isn't about casual Sunday morning Christianity that changes with our moods or circumstances. God calls us to a commitment made with every fiber of our being—a commitment that touches every corner of our lives.

Created for His Glory
Here's a truth that might initially seem uncomfortable: God made us for His own glory.
We were created in God's image (Genesis 1:27). We were made to reflect His holiness (1 Peter 1:13-16). As Isaiah 43:7 declares, God describes His children as "everyone who is called by my name, whom I have created for my glory."

This isn't divine narcissism. Rather, it's the fundamental reality of our existence. God allows us to pursue any purpose we wish—He won't stop us. But unless we choose His purpose for us, life will ultimately be unsatisfying and eternally disappointing.

Through Christ Jesus, God has made it possible for us to achieve this purpose. But we must make the commitment to glorify Him through what we do, through our good deeds, letting our light shine before others so they may see and glorify our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).

Vessels of Honor or Dishonor?
The Apostle Paul offers a striking illustration in 2 Timothy 2:20-21. He describes a great house containing vessels of gold and silver alongside vessels of wood and clay—some for honor, some for dishonor.

The house represents the church. The vessels represent Christians—both faithful and unfaithful.

Here's the sobering reality: not all Christians will remain faithful. This was true for the church at Ephesus, and it's true today. But here's the hope: while a physical vessel of wood cannot transform itself into gold, a person can change from evil to good, from unfaithful to faithful.

An unfaithful Christian can repent, confess their sins, and be cleansed (1 John 1:9). An unusable vessel can become useful to the Master again, prepared for every good work.

Christians are saved to serve. When we become unfaithful, we're no longer useful to God. But when we repent and renew our commitment, God can powerfully use us in His service once again.

Christ's Preeminence in Everything
Why must Christ come first in everything? Because Jesus has preeminence in all things.

Colossians 1:15-18 paints a magnificent picture of Christ's supremacy:

• He is the image of the invisible God
• He is firstborn over all creation (meaning priority and sovereignty, not that He was created)
• All things were created through Him and for Him
• He existed before all things
• He holds all things together
• He is the head of the church
• He is the firstborn from the dead

Jesus has authority over all creation, existence, the church, and resurrection. One day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord—whether they believe it now or not (Philippians 2:8-11).

The gospel persuades us that Jesus deserves this preeminence. The Father declared Him the Son of God with power through His resurrection (Romans 1:4). The Father has given Him all authority (Matthew 28:18) and appointed Him to judge the world (Acts 17:31).

Knowing these things, we are called to make a commitment to Jesus that stands above any other.

What True Commitment Looks Like
Jesus didn't sugarcoat the cost of following Him. In Matthew 10:32-39, He laid out the reality clearly:

We must confess Him openly—not just with our words, but with our manner of living. If you're going to talk the talk, you must walk the walk.

We must love Him above even our closest family relationships. This doesn't mean renouncing family, but rather that Christ takes first place. When family members deny Christ or fall away, we don't abandon them—we actually become better family members—but Christ remains our priority.

We must love Him above our own lives. Jesus said, "He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it." Those who seek to save their lives by denying Jesus will lose their souls. Those willing to suffer the consequences of being Christians—even unto death—will be saved.

In Luke 14:25-33, Jesus used the illustrations of a builder counting the cost before starting a tower and a king assessing his forces before going to war. Then He concluded: "Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple."

This doesn't demand that we give everything away, but that we be willing to give up anything that would keep us from being His disciples. That's still a heavy cost.

Living Sacrifice
Even if we never need to die for Jesus' sake, all of us must live for Him. Romans 12:1 calls us to "present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."

This commitment must be expressed through the way we live, or it's not really a commitment at all.

There's no realm of life exempt from our commitment to Jesus—not home, school, work, church, or leisure. Jesus must always come first.

The Questions That Matter
When faced with a hard choice, what comes first in your life? Do you choose Christ's kingdom and His righteousness?

When forced to choose between Jesus and others you love, do you love Jesus more? Just as Jesus asked Peter, He asks us: "Do you love Me more than these?" (John 21:15).

When following Jesus requires you to give up something precious, do you make the sacrifice?

These aren't theoretical questions. They're the daily reality of genuine commitment to Christ.

Where are you today? Where should you be?

The greatest commitment you'll ever make is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. It's a commitment that touches everything, demands everything, and offers everything in return—abundant life now and eternal life to come.

The question remains: Do you love God with all of your being?