Devotional Thoughts: the most important commandment

Matthew 22:34-40 has a short exchange where Jesus responds to the question: what is the most important commandment?

Jesus responds: love God with all your heart, soul and mind; love your neighbor as yourself; all the other commandments are based on two ideas.

One thing I have wondered about is the meaning of heart, soul and mind.

In modern day life, we have ideas of what these mean. I wonder to what degree they are the same as the Jewish understanding of Jesus' day? We must also remember that the Gospels were written in Greek and thus in addition to the Jewish cultural context there is the Greek linguistic context of that era.

I tend to think of the heart as the blending of the will and the emotion. We say we love someone with all our heart. We are describing the decision we make inside us to care for the person through thick and thin. Additionally, we think of the emotion of love. I wonder to what degree this "American" notion of heart is the same as Jewish and Greek thought?

I tend to think of the soul as the sum total of our being that makes us unique. In Genesis we are told that Adam and Eve were formed from the dust of the ground (body - physical form) and God breathed (spirit - the spark of the divine) into it and we became a living soul (a distinct person). Thus, I think of "soul" as being the most inclusive of the terminology. The soul would encompass the heart and the mind.

And of course, I think of the mind as the intellect and reasoning powers of us as humans.

Do I love God with the blending of my will and emotions (heart), my whole being (soul) and my intellect and reason (mind)?

Loving God leads to loving my neighbor. Love by its nature wants to extend itself. One cannot love God and not love your neighbor.

Who is my neighbor?

Anybody I encounter in my life.

Geographically, the people in my apartment building; vocationally, the people in my work context; biologically, immediate and extended family; volitionally, friends and acquaintances I have because we somehow share something in common.

God, forgive my self-centeredness. Help me to extend beyond myself and love you and love my neighbors. Amen!