We think love is less than the total giving over of ourselves.

How can I say that? Because I know me, therefore I know most of you, and for most of us our love has limits and our sentiments about love, our words, often if not always, outperform our actions.

I do not believe we need to waste mental space with a list or litany of ways this is true of us, or our lives, or our relationships with people and God. Just a little bit of self examination will go a long way in showing us the various ways in which we verbally express the depths of our love, but fall short in giving our whole selves into the effort of displaying it.

The questions that linger then are not whether it is true of us that we think love is less than the total giving over of ourselves, but rather to what degree it is true? And secondly, in light of this, what should be true of us if we say that we are those who have joyfully began the journey of following Jesus, and therefore accepted Jesus’ command as irrevocable that we “love the Lord [our] God with all [our] heart and with all [our] soul and with all [our] strength and with all [our] mind…”

The “All” language in Jesus’ words is in no way obscure—it is a call for our whole selves to be given over to God in love. And why would we not? In love and generosity God gave over Himself, if we are His, we respond with nothing less