Love God With All Your Soul

"You shall love the Lord your Go with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." - Matthew 22:37

Today as I read "The Relationship Principles of Jesus," I come to the chapter titled, "Love God with All Your Soul. It encourages us to seek Him passionately, love Him personally, and to do what He wants us to do. This is what Jesus did when He went to Gethsemane. He prayed, "Not my will, but yours be done."

The author, Tom Holladay, then tells a bit about a minister from the 18th century named Philip Doddridge. It was Doddridge who influenced William Wilberforce as he worked tirelessly through Parliament to abolish the slave trade in England. Doddridge was known for his passionate praying. A sample of one of his prayers is in the book:

"This day do I, with the utmost solemnity, surrender myself to thee. I renounce all former lords that have had dominion over me; and I consecrate to thee all that I am, and all that I have; the faculties of my mind, the members of my body, my worldly possessions, my time, and my influence over others; to be all used entirely for thy glory, and resolutely employed in obedience to thy commands, as long as thou continuest me in life... To thee I leave the management of all events, and say without reserve, 'Not my will, but thine be done.'"