Ultimately, we all have one underlying motivation behind everything we do. You might ask a thousand people that question and receive a thousand different answers, but all those answers would end up falling into one of two categories: love for God, or love for self.
Moses taught that the highest calling of every human is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength (Deut. 6:5).” Jesus affirmed this in Matthew 22:37 (see also Mark 12:30). Notice that you are commanded to love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. In other words, it is not appropriate (nor is it possible) to love God with a percentage of your life, but love other things with the remaining percentage. Your love for God should be the sum total of why you do what you do. If you “love” God with only a percentage of your heart, soul, mind and strength, then upon close evaluation it is likely you will find that your “love” for God is only a means to loving yourself.
Why do you love God? If someone were to answer that question, “Because of all He has given me,” what does this answer reveal? What if God took away all the things He had given them—would they stop loving God? If they would, then this reveals that they only “loved” God because they loved themselves.
But aren’t we supposed to love other people and not just God? How are we supposed to love God with 100% of our being and still have love left over for others? I think the answer to that question is found again in the area of motivation. For instance, what is the primary motivation behind your love for your spouse? There may be many reasons for why you love your spouse, but the primary reason ought to be because you love God. God created them, brought them to you, married them to you, and then commanded you to love one another as you love yourself (Matt. 22:38, Eph. 5:25-28). Yes, we are to love them, because that’s a part of our loving God. Sometimes I don’t “feel” like loving my wife, yet I choose to love her anyways. Why? Because I love God, and I understand that He expects me to love my wife even when I don’t feel like loving my wife. On some days I don’t feel like working hard, but I do anyhow. Why? Because I love God, and I understand that He expects me to give my best at whatever my hand finds to do even when my love for myself objects to working hard (Eccl. 10:9; Col. 3:23). The only way you can love someone or something else more than you love yourself is by loving God first and fully. He is love. He is the Author of love. He is the source of love. And He is to be the ultimate object of love.
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” -- 1 John 4:7-8
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