Topic: Love God with Your Strength [RICK WARREN Devotional 6 May 2021]
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Love God with Your Strength
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for people.”
Colossians 3:23 (GNT)Jesus said the greatest commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength” (Mark 12:30 NLT).
As we’ve learned, God expects every one of us to mature in all of these areas. But he also knows each one of us tends to lead in one area. This means God has shaped you to most naturally be a talker (heart), feeler (soul), thinker (mind), or doer (strength).
Today we’re going to focus on loving God with all your strength.
Doers love God with their strength. They’re energetic activists—the achievers, the accomplishers, the workers. They push things forward and make things happen in practical ways.
What is the purpose of doers in the world? Doers are here because the world needs contribution—and doers can get the job done! They have initiative, energy, action, and a drive to achieve. In a practical sense, they often serve as the hands and feet of Jesus in the world.
But we all have flaws, and for doers, it’s overwork. Doers are always working. They have trouble stopping to think or feel. They are always busy!
Psalm 127:2 says, “It’s useless to rise early and go to bed late, and work your worried fingers to the bone. Don’t you know he enjoys giving rest to those he loves?” (The Message). If you’re a doer, that would be a good verse to put up on the mirror in your bathroom. God wants his loved ones to get their proper rest.
When you become a believer, your past is forgiven, you have a reason for living, and you have a home in heaven. But there’s something that doesn’t change when you come to Christ: Your personality doesn’t change. God doesn’t slow a doer down when you come to him. He just changes your direction. In fact, he wants to empower you. Remember, you got your personality from him.
Colossians 3:23 has great advice for doers: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for people” (GNT).
If God made you a doer, then he wants to use you to get stuff done in the world. But you’re not meant to do it all, and you should never try to do it in your own strength.
It’s okay sometimes to do less—not less for God, but less in other areas so you’ll have more time to do what matters most.
- In what ways have you loved God with your strength?
- Psalm 127 says that God enjoys giving rest to those he loves. How have you experienced God’s rest?
- If you tend to be a doer, in what areas do you need to do less so that you have more time for the things that really matter?