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T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

Introduction .......................................................... 1

Love God with all your heartheart: What we are ........ 11

Love God with all your soulsoul: Who we are ........... 25

Love God with all your mindmind: Why we are ......... 39

Love God with all your strengthstrength: Where we are .... 55

Live marked ........................................................ 69

About Pardon The Mess ..................................... 72

About Cynthia Yanof ............................................. 75

T H E G O A T

A 4-Week Family Challenge to Live Out the

Greatest Commandment of All Time

You know what a GOAT is, don’t you?

When something or someone is a GOAT, it’s the Greatest Of All Time.

A few GOATs of mine:

• Greatest 80s band of all time: U2 • Greatest ROMCOM (romantic comedy,

keep up people) of all time: Sleepless in

Seattle

• Greatest NFL team of all time: Obviously the Dallas Cowboys

What does GOAT have to do with walking with God?

We’ll get to that, but can we agree we’ve all wished at times there were a way to break down all the stuff in the Bible into one digestible principle or rule that tells us the secret sauce for living for Jesus? A GOAT commandment, if you will?

Turns out, there’s a verse for that.

Remember that time a lawyer in the Bible tried to trick Jesus by asking him to name the greatest commandment? And Jesus, savvy to the antics of this jokester, responded with one of the most familiar and powerful passages in the entire Bible.

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Jesus told him the greatest commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30).

Maybe it’s because I used to be a lawyer (and I’m married to a lawyer) that I’ve always been intrigued by the question this man asked—and even more interested in Jesus’s answer. Why ask this particular question if you’re trying to trip up Jesus? And how does Jesus’s response impact my own life, if at all?

Although the Pharisee’s question may have come from a place of questionable motives (opinions vary on that, by the way), can we be honest? Figuring out how Scripture applies to our everyday lives can be hard sometimes. Sure, “all Scripture is God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16), but how it applies to my life and what I should be doing differently because of it can sometimes get muddy.

What matters? What doesn’t? What does God really want from me and for me?

And how do we impart this to our kids?

We’ll get back to that.

LOTS OF COMMANDMENTS AND THE SHEMA

There’s a little bit of background that helps explain the context behind the question thrown at Jesus.

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In Jesus’s time, the Pharisees had identified 613 commandments in the laws: 248 positive commandments and 365 negative. Since it was virtually impossible to know and follow all 613 commandments, the Pharisees categorized the commandments into two categories: more important and less important.

Way to be practical, my good Pharisees.

Ranking the commandments and debating which one was the most important was not a new one among the Pharisees, but they were simply bringing Jesus into the discussion in an effort to set him up. So, the story goes, the Pharisees asked Jesus to pick the GOAT commandment.

And Jesus responded with “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” This was not something he just threw out there for the first time, hoping to appease the masses because he was under pressure. No, as always, Jesus’s response was thoughtful and significant, quoting the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4–9.

The Shema is one of the most important and well-known prayers in the Bible. Jesus would have memorized it at the earliest age and repeated it often. Orthodox Jews still memorize this statement of faith today, teaching it to their kids almost as early as they can talk. (Which is really remarkable since my kids basically came out of the womb making demands, not quoting Scripture. But I digress.)

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But do you know what really stops me in my tracks?

Take a gander at the verses that come right after the GOAT commandment: “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes” (Deuteronomy 6:6–8).

We’re told that loving God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind is something we should be teaching our kids in the morning, at night, and all the time! I’m just not sure anywhere else in Scripture where we are so obviously instructed on what really matters when it comes to raising our children.

JUST DO IT (I SHOULD COIN THAT PHRASE)

Those verses right there are the reason we’re going to focus on one passage of Scripture so intentionally.

If God said it, Moses relayed it, and Jesus reaffirmed it . . . then we better stop and consider it. You with me?

So there you have it. That’s the gist of what we’re going to focus on for the next thirty days and the whole premise behind our GOAT Challenge. We’re

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going to put a little bit of action behind our beliefs and really dig in and “just do it” when it comes to obeying the words of Jesus.

But why a challenge versus just a Bible study or daily devotional? Glad you asked.

My family is the most competitive family you probably know—except for me, who lacks in competitive-ism (assuming that’s a word), primarily because I lack any sort of real skills. I literally can barely walk and then God somehow puts me smack-dab in the middle of a bunch of overly competitive, athletic sports junkies.

Me and Jesus are gonna chat about that someday.

These people in my house want to be the first, the best, the fastest, and the greatest. And it’s not limited to sports, board games, and the normal ways one might find it appropriate to compete. Nope, every single thing presents an opportunity for these maroons to compete: emptying the dishwasher, racing to the car at Costco, drinking a Gatorade, the time it takes to shower—I could go on but won’t.

I don’t know if your family is like mine when it comes to a challenge (for your sake, I hope not); however, I do know that our kids are more likely to participate and join in when we make things fun, interactive, and perhaps even healthily competitive. So, instead of a quick Bible study or traditional devotional, let’s put legs to this and make it a fun challenge that grows our families together, and, even more importantly, grows us toward Jesus while we do it.

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As that great motivational speaker Ricky Bobby once said, “If you ain’t first, you’re last.”

So, here’s a little lay of the land for this thirty-day challenge. Each week for the next month, we’ll focus on one of the following aspects of the GOAT commandment:

• Week 1: Love the Lord your God with all your heartheart: What we are

• Week 2: Love the Lord your God with all your soulsoul: Who we are

• Week 3: Love the Lord your God with all your mindmind: Why we are

• Week 4: Love the Lord your God with all your strengthstrength: Where we are

Each week, you’ll read a few pages on the chosen topic as a way to equip you (the parent) for the week ahead. You’re more than welcome to read my commentary to your kids, but that’s not my primary intention. It’s more likely that if you’re challenged and motivated to teach your kids, they will learn it best from you rather than reading someone else’s words.

But more than just trying to “teach” something, we want it to be fun and significant. So, we have given you suggested weekly challenges to try with your family.

This is not meant to be overwhelming or a list of things you have to add to your already busy days. But it’s just an opportunity to find a few ways to

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put our faith into action and have some fun with the kids while doing it.

Take it, leave it, add to it, subtract from it—totally your call.

Whatever brings your family closer to the Lord and each other this month we will count as a win (except in my family, where a true winner and the resulting losers must be crowned in all situations).

LET’S BE CLEAR ON SOMETHING BEFORE WE GET STARTED

My prayer is that these challenges are simply an opportunity for your family to grow closer to the Lord and experience his truly endless and unrivaled love for you. That’s it. No agenda, no complicated theology, no rules, no right way or wrong way, and definitely no guilt. And you may be thinking, Wait—I thought this was about me

loving God, not his love for me.

Yes and yes.

We’ve got to realize God’s great love for us as a starting point for anything we try to tackle or understand in the gospel. If we don’t come at things from a place of knowing the great value and worth he alone gives us, we end up spending our time striving and feeling like we’re never good enough. And we necessarily fall into the legalism trap that Jesus constantly lectured the Pharisees about. If we’re coming at this one-sided—as in

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“What can I do to please or reach God?”—then we’re missing the point.

God loves us immensely and unconditionally. He wants our best because he created us and knows it’s the best way to live purposefully, as we were created to do. So if we want to live as God created us to thrive, then living for him is the way to do it.

On that note, I spend a lot of time thinking about what I want my kids to learn while they are under our roof. I wonder if I’m getting this parenting thing right and if I’m prioritizing what really matters. I look around at others, see what they are doing, and inevitably I feel like I’m falling short and missing critical opportunities.

Frankly, I don’t feel good enough more often than I feel qualified to raise these three kids God’s entrusted to me. I’m guessing I’m not alone.

And then I’m reminded in Scripture that Jesus takes away the burden over and over again. That his love for us is so deep and so completely unconditional, it’s truly hard to even fathom. He’s not looking for performance or perfection or legalism or religion. He’s looking for a relationship with us. He so desperately wants us to know how much he loves us and how much he’s for us.

Knowing that underscores why I’m so blown away by the fact that, of all the things Jesus could have said was the most important thing for us to focus on, he simply asks us to love him with all we’ve got.

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And I’m challenged to somehow live my life in a way that shows my kids that they don’t need to buy into all the things this world is selling. That they are children of a God who is absolutely 100 percent in love with them, and there is not one single thing they can do (or not do) that would have any impact whatsoever on his unending love for them.

And so, I find myself on a journey to help them truly know God’s love and the freedom it brings when we fully accept who we are in him. I want them to know that there aren’t rules to follow and tasks to complete in order to earn God’s favor.

And, as much as I believe that and want my family to believe it too, I turn around a hot second later and find myself caught up again in things that do nothing more than stress my kids and exhaust myself rather than remind us all of God’s unwavering love for us.

Jesus said, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). Not many days feel easy and light when I’m left to my own devices. When I work out of my own strength, I find myself stressing about finding the best SAT tutor while running between tryouts for the “right” team, all the while encouraging my kids to study and make good grades so they will have endless opportunities someday. And that was all just last week.

Sweet Jesus just stands there, humbly reminding us to just love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. That’s most important. That’s what matters. He’s begging us to let the rest go.

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These next thirty days are simply an opportunity to live freely in the lavish love of our Lord. To give ourselves permission to let go of all the “right” things we’re supposed to be doing and focus on the “real” love our Savior has for us.

Let’s get back to the basics. Let’s stop worrying about what we’re doing right and where we’re messing it up and instead just remind ourselves what it feels like to live with the priority of loving God.

I bet that, as we do this, we will find that his love for us is overwhelming, undeserved, and so refreshing that it will naturally lead us to love the things God loves and point our families and those around us back to him.

I’m praying the Holy Spirit gets ahold of you (and me) during these next thirty days and challenges us to focus all our priorities on simply loving God in everything we do.

You’re loved and you’re enough. Take the pressure off and let go of the rules. Just love God with all you’ve got and he will take it from there. That is all.

GOAT get ’em! (Too much?)

Love God with all your heart:

W H A T W E A R E

Love God with all your heart.

Well, that seems easy enough, right? Week 1: nailed it!

Oh wait, maybe not.

Loving God with all your heart is the “what we are” of this study. So, what does it mean to love God with all your heart, and what does that look like?

While you ponder that deep thought, I’ll share a funny “heart” story that happened to me.

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A BIRTHDAY LUNCH

I was at a birthday lunch with a bunch of my friends when I felt my heart “thud.”

I suddenly felt light-headed and thought I might pass out. I panicked for a minute, wondering if I were having a heart attack.

Sharing my angst with my friends, they all jumped into action, grabbing their purses and digging around urgently. I naively assumed they were looking for cell phones to call 911 like a normal person might do when one thinks their precious friend is having a heart episode.

But oh no—they came out of those purses loaded with an arsenal of essential oils.

They proceeded to wipe things like peppermint and chamomile on my forehead and behind my ears, even arguing among each other that maybe lavender would be better than basil oil.

By the grace of God (or perhaps the magical healing effects of chamomile), I felt better in a few minutes and life carried on.

But not without me giving them a good talking to about appropriate protocol for potential heart attack victims! I let them know that one would prefer an ambulance and emergency room over their hyssop and lavender.

Well-intentioned? Yes. Effective? Probably not had I needed an EKG or some paddles.

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THE HEART OF THE MATTER

Our heart is obviously vital to our earthly health. But it’s also a critical center of our spiritual life. It’s central to our thoughts and actions, where we spend money, and even the words that come out of our mouths. It’s what we’re all about.

When Jesus talks about loving God with all our heart, he’s referencing our emotions and decisions. It’s what drives us each day. What fills our heart will fill our days.

Our heart is critical to our walk with the Lord. Don’t take my word for it. Look at how the Bible talks about our heart:

• “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23).

• “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).

• “The heart is deceitful above all things, and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). (Feeling better already, right?)

• “As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart” (Proverbs 27:19).

• “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

• “May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight” (Psalm 19:14).

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A TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART

I’m going to say it again: What fills our heart also fills our days.

Really think about that for a minute.

If you want to know where my heart is, look at how I spend my days. My heart drives my actions. We will get to actions in a minute, but let’s start by figuring out what fills our hearts.

Left to my own devices, I’m likely to fill my heart and my days with the things of earth and not of the Lord. Not necessarily bad things, but not God things either.

As I wrote this, I stopped for a minute to consider what has filled my time. Of course, as I was trying to have this philosophical moment, my phone vibrated, leaving me no choice but to pick it up and thereby lose my complete train of thought.

But, while I had it in hand, I realized how much priority that thing has in my life and I got a wild hair to see how much time I’m actually on it. So, I found the “Screen Time” report on my iPhone just to make the point in this book, and, well, now I’m horrified.

I have spent four hours and ten minutes on my phone today.

It’s only 3:10 in the afternoon.

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Are you following me? I’ve spent just over four

hours on my phone today!

Please set up an intervention.

Yes, some of it was for work, and yes I used it as my Bible today in Bible study. Blah blah blah.

But it’s time to get a grip over here.

Spending time with the Lord is the numero uno

best way to love God with all your heart.

Only through time with him do we groom our hearts to know Jesus better. To love him more. To be about the things he’s about. To follow his plan for our lives. To begin to grasp his unending love for us.

Philosophically, I think we all agree with that, but the problem is that we just don’t do it.

Sadly, time spent with God totally gets eclipsed by the other things we give priority. And when we prioritize all the other things, we crowd out room for God and end up with lives that are completely uninterruptible.

In other words, we fill our lives with good things that end up replacing the God things.

I like to call them cheap substitutes for the real thing. What are the cheap substitutes in your life? Those things that divert you from filling your heart and calendar with God? What’s eclipsing your heart for God?

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Here are some ideas:

• Technology (guilty as charged)

• Netflix

• Making money

• Shopping

• Social media

• Redecorating

• Maintaining a certain image

• Travel

• Working out

Nothing is inherently wrong with spending time on some of these things. It’s just that the cheap substitutes for the real thing take up a lot of time in our already time-starved days. It takes time to keep up with the latest series on Netf lix or to constantly be planning the next trip or redecorating your house.

I think moms tend to be the worst offenders (or maybe it’s just me). I would like to pop my own bra for each time I’ve blamed my lack of spending time with the Lord on being too busy with kids. Interestingly, I’ve never missed brushing my teeth, going to my favorite girls’ night out event, or getting my hair cut and colored. I mean, those things are necessary, right?

Are you with me? We make time for the things that have priority. And those are not always

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bad things—but, when the mundane trumps the mission in our lives, we’ve got to make adjustments. And if we aren’t doing it well ourselves, it’s pretty likely our family isn’t getting it right either.

All this is not meant to be a guilt trip. Again, we’re not doing this study to get a kick in the pants and feel guilty over all the places we’re getting it wrong. The point of all this is that we were created with hearts that desire God. We have that God-shaped hole you’ve heard about since third-grade VBS. You know, the God-shaped hole in your heart that only he can fill. But if you’re like me, I’m working pretty hard to fill it with other things that just aren’t getting the job done.

So we keep feeling a lack of contentment and discouragement and we keep trying to fight it with good things (not God things)—and it’s a downward spiral. God created us and he knows what we need: him! That’s why we need to fill our heart with more Jesus and not with the other things that vie for our time.

So, let’s net it out.

The first step to loving God with all of our heart is simply spending time with him.

To love him with all my heart, I need to fill my heart with the things of God. For my family to love God, we have to prioritize spending time with him and in his word. That means we must be willing to sacrifice time doing something else in order to make this happen.

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When we spend time with God, we naturally begin to want to do the things that are pleasing to God. Having time with our creator enables us to know what he wants for our lives, and we can’t help but pursue him and the things he values and wants for our families.

If you’re like me, we get it reversed more often than we should, spinning our wheels trying to “do things” for God instead of pursuing God. That’s where we end up feeling discouraged that we’re not good enough and constantly feel like we’re falling short on living “right” for the Lord.

Here’s a goal for this week: instead of tirelessly working for his favor, let’s rest in his fellowship. Ask him to reveal to you what that looks like in your life by starting each day spending time in prayer and in the Bible.

WHERE DO BROKEN HEARTS GO?

As I reference a broken heart here, please know I’m not referring to the high-school kind of broken heart that happens when your boyfriend of two years asks your best friend to your senior prom without breaking up with you or even slightly hinting that you’re dateless prior to said dance.

That’s a completely different situation and I’m fine. Really, it’s all fine now.

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When we start spending time with the Lord and focusing all our energy on knowing him better, our heart starts prompting actions. Our hearts are broken of our old ways and where we’ve made it all about us, and we start to be broken for the things of God. We care about what he cares about. We want what he wants.

Psalm 37:4 is one of my favorite verses: “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

That verse really came to life for my husband and me several years ago. We were in the thick of a foster care placement and we were living through some really hard days. We truly loved this little boy and couldn’t imagine losing him. But it also felt weird or self-serving to pray that he would stay and that we could adopt him, knowing that there is always another family involved with foster care or adoption.

I wasn’t sure how to pray in this situation, and it didn’t help that I grew up Baptist and we end all prayers with “if that’s your will.” You know, giving God an out and all. So, praying specifically for the Lord to give us what we wanted (an adoption) seemed presumptuous.

I realized that if we were following God’s calling and delighting in him, we could honestly pray for the desires of our hearts. Now, mind you, that doesn’t mean it always goes the way we planned. But the point is that, when your heart lines up with God’s heart, you’ll find that you get the desires of your heart because your desires align with his.

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Too often, we feel like we must show our love for God by following some list of rules or somehow attending church enough or not using bad language when we stub our toe. But, in reality, we live out our love for God by loving what he loves. For being broken-hearted for what breaks his heart.

I love the hashtag #LoveWhatMatters. It’s a mantra of sorts for me.

There’s so much out there the world tempts me to love that I need a constant reminder to love what matters. Love what God loves and that will naturally lead me to take action. Every time I do, I’m demonstrating my love for God. I’m loving him with all my heart.

As we teach our kids how to love God with all their heart, it’s not about laying out a bunch of rules for loving God or a litany of things we won’t do if we really love God. Nope, that’s the Pharisee-type of stuff where we’re weighing what matters the most versus what we can let slide.

Instead, let’s just work on putting our love for God into action by loving what he loves.

Let’s spend time with him each day, asking specifically what today should look like if we were to truly love him with all of our heart.

And let’s ask him to break our hearts for the things that break his and find the ways he would have us act on our love for him.

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WHAT DOES GOD LOVE?

Before we wrap this up, let’s consider some of the things that God loves:

• God loves his people (1 John 4:7–8).

• God loves a forgiving heart (Matthew 6:12–15).

• God loves obedience ( John 15:14).

• God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:6–7).

• God loves humility (1 Peter 5:6–7).

• God loves spending time with us ( James 4:8).

• God loves righteousness and justice (Psalm 11:7; Psalm 33:5).

Let’s commit for the next thirty days to spend time with God and lead our families to do the same.

In spending time with God this week and all month, let’s pray specifically for him to break our hearts of our own self-interests and that we would be directed to love what matters.

Let’s pray that we are challenged to love him with all our heart in a way that naturally leads to action.

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G O A T C H A L L E N G E WEEK 1

A. START YOUR DAY WITH GOD.

Give him your heart first thing each day. Give him your heart first thing each day.

Don’t do anything before you pray in the morning and spend a few minutes in his word. Literally do nothing until you give God your heart each day. I’m talking nothing, people!

Replace the phones on your nightstand with your Bible and favorite devotional. Put the TV remote in the bathroom so you’re not tempted to f lip it on in the morning. Set your alarm a few minutes earlier. Do what it takes to spend a few minutes with the Lord before anything else.

Encourage your kids to do the same. Encourage your kids to do the same.

Print off or buy a devotional for your kids. Have something prepared at the breakfast table. Play a podcast devotional in the car.

Set up a group text (for those members in our family with a phone) and text Scripture each morning or something that the Lord revealed to you in your time with him. This group text will be useful all month in the GOAT Challenge.

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B. LET LOVE DRIVE ACTION.

As you’re spending time with the Lord this week As you’re spending time with the Lord this week each day, ask the Lord to reveal how your family each day, ask the Lord to reveal how your family can tangibly love him with all your heart. can tangibly love him with all your heart.

Ask him to break your heart for the things that break his.

Then, as a family, sit down and find a way to serve others out of your love for the Lord.

Have your family make two lists (individually or Have your family make two lists (individually or one family list):one family list):

The first list is “What’s on my heart?”

It lists two to three things on your heart. What do you care about? What worries you? What fills your days?

The second list is “What’s on God’s heart?”

It lists two to three things you care about that you know God also cares about.

Look at the two lists and identify any contrasts between the good stuff and the God stuff filling your days.

Challenge each member of your family to write specific things they can do about the items on the second list this week.

For example, your kid’s second list mentions “lonely kids at school.” An action item might be as simple as: “Ask a lonely kid to sit with me and my friends at lunch.”

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For parents, maybe it’s a homeless person on the corner and you’re called to care for them in some way.

Text your kids some encouragement to act on the things on their second list and let them know you’re praying for them this week.

C. REFLECT.

Take a little bit of time at the end of the week to discuss how your week was different as a result of starting it with God each morning.

Also, talk about the ways your days felt different when you focused on loving God with all your heart and loving the things he loves.

Love God with all your soul. Sounds reasonable.

Wait, what exactly is our soul?

When considering how to best love God with your heart, soul, mind, and strength, by far the soul has the most impact on living out the GOAT authentically. If your soul isn’t grounded in Jesus, everything else breaks down.

But nailing down the essence of your soul is also the hardest part of our four-week study because it lacks surface attributes by which to evaluate it. It may get tricky, but stay with me for a minute as we consider what our soul entails and why it matters for ourselves and our kids.

Love God with all your soul:

W H O W E A R E

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HEY, SOUL SISTER (OR BROTHER)

Speaking of soul sisters, I would like to interrupt this fairly serious topic to lament that God gave me no sisters. I always wanted a sister to tell my secrets, share clothes, speak a code language, and, you know, bare my soul.

Instead, I have two older brothers . . .

I really hate to dredge up the past, but these buffoons were anything but soulmates.

My identical-twin brothers were five years older than me, and I was often left in their care. They were really nurturing—if you consider locking me in a closet with a mattress and pretending a tornado was coming as a form of nurturing.

Or how about when my parents left the phone number of where they were going to be in case of a problem, and, inevitably, one of my brothers would eat the piece of paper so I couldn’t call and report my misgivings.

They turned out to be great people and I love them, but the void of having a soul sister still leaves a bitter taste. My mom used to tell them they would be responsible for paying my counseling bills someday. It appears I may need to jump on that.

The good news is that God designed our soul and knows its every intricacy. If last week we studied our hearts and the “what” we are as revealed by our priorities, our soul is the very essence of “who” we are and is only fully transparent to ourselves and the Lord.

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Our soul was formed by God at the beginning of our lives. We know this because Scripture says that God formed Adam’s body from the dirt (Genesis 2:7) and then breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, making him a living soul (1 Corinthians 15:45).

Our soul lies deep down inside of us and is our very core. It’s the invisible part of you that connects you with God. It is where we are most at home, and it’s the most fundamental driver of who we are from the inside out. If you strip away all of our outward actions and how we choose to portray ourselves (or how others may define us), the soul is our truest self.

So, as we consider how to love God with all of our soul, that’s a discussion on loving him with the very basic core of who we are. Not by what we intellectually believe about him, or how we serve him, or what we communicate to others by our faith, but it’s truly loving Jesus from the core of our being.

There’s no faking it when it comes to our soul.

However, we have to pause for a minute for a critical caveat.

Yes, our souls are created by and for the Lord, but he gives us the choice as to whether we will lay down our cross and follow him. Only when we confess our sins and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior can we then have a soul that is able to love the Lord down to our very core. If we have not accepted Jesus as our Savior personally (or our kids have not made that decision), then we have souls that, at their very core, are separated from the Lord and in need of salvation.

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SOUL SEARCHING

When is the last time you sat down to contemplate the state of your soul?

Me neither.

It’s not in our regular vernacular to talk about our soul so we just don’t give it much thought. It seems kind of esoteric, and, frankly, if we really figured out the state of our soul, it might require some pretty significant change.

Part of the GOAT Challenge is taking time to do a soul check and then having an honest time of confession and restoration with the Lord. We start by asking the Holy Spirit to point out where our soul is misdirected and make it a priority to get our soul back in line with Jesus.

If you’re like me and lack insight into the state of your soul, one way to get a soul check is to consider a time when you faced a crisis and think about how your soul fared.

I had the opportunity to get a glimpse of my soul during an MRI. (Don’t be silly. An MRI can’t literally read your soul.)

I don’t have to tell you that there’s nothing more frightening as a parent than staring down the barrel of a potentially life-changing diagnosis of your child. So, when my daughter started having headaches and vision disruptions and an MRI of her brain was ordered, I quickly found myself with a solid hour and twenty-five minutes to consider what was truly in the depths of my soul while sitting at the foot of an MRI with no technology allowed.

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These are the three essentials I learned during her MRI:

1. MY SOUL-ILOQUY?

A potential crisis allows you to figure out real fast if you really believe what you say you do.

If this machine reveals that my daughter has a life-altering diagnosis, do I still believe that God is good and that he’s for me?

Will I still choose to devote my life to him, trusting that he loves my daughter and my family more than I do?

In the depths of my soul, do I believe Jesus loves me right here, right now, even if he allows me to walk a path that is crushing?

What is the narrative of your soul when you’re faced with the unknown?

2. MY SOUL DESIRE

A little perspective and review of your priorities comes free with admission while staring at your child’s feet hanging out of an MRI machine.

While there, I thought about the things that mattered to me the day before and how little those things actually mattered in that moment.

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Just weeks before, I was focused on our finances, the growth of this ministry, my kids’ grades, and lots of other things not worth going into. But, as I sat there alone in my thoughts considering what really mattered, I knew without a doubt that my sole desire was to make absolutely sure that my kids know Jesus and will spend all eternity in heaven.

What is your soul’s deepest desire?

3. THEN SINGS MY SOUL

You’ve probably heard it said countless times over the years: we’re designed with the need to worship our creator. It’s in our DNA.

I experienced this firsthand when my daughter was given the option of music to be piped into the room during her MRI. She chose Christian music. As I sat there nervously humming the praise and worship music over the deafening sounds of the MRI, I realized that the words of the songs transitioned from just background noise to an opportunity for me to worship.

As time slowly passed, I realized I was having straight-up church in that room as I allowed the words to penetrate my soul and lead me to worship my creator.

What song does your soul sing in its deepest parts?

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SOUL’D OUT

Jesus emphasized the importance of the soul when he asked, “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:26).

Gaining the whole world refers to all the things this world has to offer (e.g., money, fame, success). Losing your soul is choosing to live apart from your Creator, both now and for all eternity.

Jesus is literally saying that your soul holds more value than anything and everything this world has to offer.

Our soul is the only part of us that lasts forever, yet we barely give it a second thought as we spend our days focused on our earthly body and earthly comforts. In other words, the things of this world.

One source I ran across said Scripture references our soul 473 times while our body is only mentioned 154 times in the Bible. Flip those numbers and you’ve got about the ratio in my own life for the amount of time I spend focused on satisfying my earthly body at the expense of cultivating my soul.

And that’s being generous.

Our souls get a fraction of the concern that our 401(k)s muster. We spend considerably more time praying for the physical safety of our children than we spend praying over their souls. The vast majority of our days are spent working, shopping, eating, sleeping, planning, and parenting, leaving almost no time for nourishing our soul.

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Don’t get me wrong: I realize we all have realities we must tend to each day and we don’t have the luxury of twenty-four-hour concentration on our souls. However, we also don’t have the luxury of ignoring our soul altogether since it’s the only part of our body that survives our earthly lives.

When we don’t tend to our soul and plant the things of Jesus in it, it gets drowned out by the things of this earth and the sin that so easily entangles us. Peter says it this way: “Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the sinful desires, which wage war against your soul” (1 Peter 2:11 NIV).

There is literally a war being waged against our souls, which means it’s time to wake up and acknowledge the discrepancies between who we have become and who we were created to be.

David says in Psalm 63:1, “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you.” Literally, David thirsts for God. (Sadly, I mostly thirst for Diet Coke on a given day. But good for you, David!)

This begs the question: What does your soul thirst for?

• Security

• Companionship

• Accomplishment

• Recognition

• Acknowledgment

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Ironically, the deep desires of our souls are only met by Jesus. He’s designed us and created the longings of our soul, and only he can fill them. Yet we pursue the things of this earth hoping to feed our souls and predictably find ourselves unsatisfied.

Let’s net it out.

If you’ve accepted Jesus as our Savior, the state of your soul today is not a matter of salvation but more a matter of devotion.

To love the Lord with all of our soul, we’ve got to be faithful in private. We’ve got to be devoted to the things that drench our soul in Jesus and willing to drop the things that aren’t.

It’s taking a litmus test of our soul and confessing where we’ve gained the world at the cost of our soul. It’s spending time in prayer confessing what’s in our soul, not just in our mind. It’s worshipping the Lord in the middle of uncertainty when it’s the last thing we naturally are inclined to do. And it’s giving priority to our deepest parts, even when that comes at the price of our earthly body.

I grew up in church and in a home focused on Jesus, but I don’t remember spending time figuring out how to live out the greatest commandment on a practical level. I also don’t remember ever being taught the importance of my soul and how to tend to it.

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If you’re in the same boat, start going through Scripture that talks about the state of the soul:

• “My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word” (Psalm 119:81).

• “My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me” (Psalm 63:8).

• “But if from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 4:29).

• “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God” (Psalm 42:11).

This week, we will continue the challenge we laid out last week, committing to spend time with Jesus first thing, every day, before anything else. We’re going to keep up that emphasis with our kids and pray for the Lord to fill their soul with more of him.

As you’re doing this, consider the challenges below for week 2.

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G O A T C H A L L E N G E WEEK 2

A. TAKE AN MRI OF YOUR SOUL.

Again, let’s not be too literal here, peeps.

I learned last week that when you’re in the MRI room, you’re not allowed to have any metal with you (e.g., a computer, a phone, a tablet, etc.) Makes sense? Sure. Brutal? Absolutely.

But I will say it creates a surefire way to get focused on more significant, eternal things.

And, although a good, old-fashioned crisis definitely reveals your soul, there’s a better way to do it. Let’s be blunt: waiting for a crisis to force you to evaluate your soul is not the right time. It would be a little like deciding you want to f lood-proof your home as it starts raining.

Jesus describes this scenario in the parable of the two homeowners. One had a firm foundation built on rock. The other had a weak foundation built on sand. When the storms came to each, the firm foundation withstood the storm; the weak foundation didn’t.

Our souls could be described as our foundation. When we make Jesus the foundation of our souls, we can withstand the storms of life. The author of Hebrews says “we have this hope as an anchor for the soul” (Hebrews 6:19 NIV). When storms come, we need Jesus to anchor our souls.

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As part of this week’s challenge, turn off your As part of this week’s challenge, turn off your phone (yes, seriously), walk away from your phone (yes, seriously), walk away from your devices, and find time to sit down and assess the devices, and find time to sit down and assess the state of your soul. state of your soul.

Ask the Lord to reveal the narrative of your soul and what it truly desires.

Dare I say it?

Ask your kids to turn off all devices for a set Ask your kids to turn off all devices for a set period of time each day this week. period of time each day this week.

Challenge them to take that time to read their Bible, memorize a verse you’ve picked out about our soul, or even just spend time as a family talking about the importance of their soul and the dangers of not nourishing it.

As you focus on your soul this week, pray for the souls of your children. If they don’t know Jesus, ask the Lord to give you opportunities this week to talk about salvation with them. If they have already surrendered their life to Jesus, pray about the places where you see their soul focused on earthly things (e.g., grades, popularity, physical beauty, activities, etc.)

B. CONSIDER WHERE YOU MIGHT BE SOUL’D OUT.

What has a higher value in your life than Jesus?

It’s easy to say nothing. But does the state of your soul back it up?

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Where do we need to heed Jesus’s warning to consider what we’re gaining on this earth at the expense of our soul?

Make a list of some of the places you may be soul’d out. Write them out and find Scripture to pray though this week. I’ll get us started:

• Career (Proverbs 16:3)

• Making money (Matthew 6:24)

• Possessions (Colossians 3:2)

• Status (Galatians 3:28)

• Pleasing others (Galatians 1:10) (Ouch! Stepped on my own toes.)

• Entertainment (Philippians 4:8)

• Sex (1 John 2:16)

• Technology (Romans 8:5)

We can’t lead our children where we aren’t willing to go ourselves. Before we can talk to our children about the importance of their souls, we’ve got to be willing to tend to our own.

But, once you’ve done that, talk to your kids honestly about the things that will tempt their souls.

Depending on their age, talk about the traps of popularity, the temptations of pornography, and/or the false narrative of our culture around performance.

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Whatever you’ve faced in your life, that’s probably a great starting place to speak truth into the lives of your family.

C. REFLECT.

Reflect this week on how the state of your soul impacts your ability to love God.

Spend time reminding your kids what it means to have a soul created by God and why the Bible puts such a big emphasis on protecting your soul.

Put Scripture around the house or send texts that talk about the importance of our soul.

Discuss your priorities with your kids and figure out ways to make time to nurture your souls, even when that comes at the cost of your earthly body.

When God formed you and made you a living soul, he did so perfectly and with the intention that you will always find your longing and hope in salvation.

Alongside that, you were created to do things of eternal significance that were planned before you were even formed (Ephesians 2:10). Your soul purpose, if you will, is rooted in your need for Jesus and to live out his plans for your life.

Talk about the unique plans you believe he has for your family and how soul’d out you are to accomplishing them.

We’ve made it to week three, and now we’re about to get up close and personal with the notion of loving God with all of our mind.

In case you’re easily sidetracked like I am, let’s take a minute to summarize where we’ve been the last two weeks.

1. In week one, we talked about loving God with our heart, which is “what” we are and oftentimes revealed by how we spend our days.

2. In week two, we talked about loving God with our soul, which is “who” we are at our core and what fills our soul.

Love God with all your mind:

W H Y W E A R E

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This week, we’re focusing on loving God with all of our mind, which is “why” we are who we are.

Do you ever wonder why you do the things you do or why you act the way you do?

Me too.

Now is a great time to consider your thoughts. Our mind is comprised of our thoughts, and our thoughts impact our actions. As we focus on loving God with all our minds this week, we will consider what fills our mind and how our thought patterns impact the way we love God.

As an aside, this is probably my favorite week of our study because loving God with all of our minds lends itself to lots of opportunities to speak truth to our kids. Very practically, we will look at ways we can remind our kids of the impact their thoughts about God and their thoughts about their own identity have on how they love God.

WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?

Our mind never stops. I mean, literally it never,

ever stops. Never. Like, right now I can’t stop thinking about the fact that I can’t stop thinking.

That’s never been truer than when you lay down exhausted after a long day, ready to get some sleep, and suddenly your mind starts racing uncontrollably. Did I lock the front door? Was I in

charge of snacks for T-ball yesterday? Did Macy’s used

to be Foley’s department store? Is restless leg syndrome

treatable? Why are people obsessed with cat videos?

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Next thing you know, you’re watching a cat plunge the toilet on YouTube after checking the front door for the third time. It’s maddening.

Apparently, the average person has somewhere north of forty thousand thoughts a day. Of those forty thousand thoughts, research indicates that the vast majority are negative.

In her book Get Out of Your Head, Jennie Allen says, “The greatest spiritual battle of our generation is being fought between our ears. What we believe and what we think about matters, and the enemy knows it. And he is determined to get in your head to distract you from doing good and to sink you so deep that you feel helpless, overwhelmed, shut down, and incapable of rising to make a difference for the kingdom of God.”

#Preach.

If we are called to love God with all of our mind, we’ve got to consider what’s occupying our mind and the places where the Enemy has a foothold in our thoughts.

The Bible bluntly instructs us to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV). Now, that’s a tall order when you consider the forty thousand plus thoughts a day going through our minds. (I have the attention span of a fruit f ly, so no doubt my thoughts double that per-day estimation. Who’s with me?)

For the purposes of loving God with all of our mind this week, let’s concentrate on getting a

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handle on two areas of our thoughts: our thoughts about God and our thoughts about ourselves.

1. OUR THOUGHTS ABOUT GOD

A. W. Tozer wrote, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

Our thoughts surrounding God are significant because our faith is comprised of more than simply the emotional side of loving God. There’s an intellectual component in loving God with our mind, and our thoughts play a big role. The Enemy wants to twist our thoughts about God and his character and use our minds to hinder our ability to fully love him.

We see this truth from the earliest days of mankind, when God lovingly gave Adam and Eve the entire Garden of Eden to enjoy, minus the trees in the middle, for their own protection. And what did the crafty serpent do?

He got into Eve’s mind and convinced her that God didn’t limit the trees for her protection but so she wouldn’t be able to have God’s wisdom. Buying into that lie, Eve got herself a taste of the forbidden fruit, and the rest of us ladies got a brutal dose of childbearing pain.

Thank you, serpent, that will be all.

So, if the Enemy is out to get our thoughts, and we tend to be easily drawn offsides with our thoughts, what’s the answer?

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We’ve got to be unrelenting in knowing God’s character by planting seeds every day, in every way, to remind us (and our kids) of who God is and why he matters.

We’ve got to drench our minds with the truth of God’s character so that when the crafty serpent comes to us with lies, we’re able to weigh those thoughts against the truth of Scripture. Our greatest defense to the battle between our ears is a deep knowledge of God’s word.

Scripture is filled with the attributes of God. Here are some of the highlights:

• He is compassionate (Psalm 116:5).

• He is patient (2 Peter 3:9).

• He is faithful (1 Corinthians 10:13).

• He is our provider (Matthew 6:26).

• He is the light (1 John 1:5).

• He is the protector (Psalm 18:30).

• He is just (Isaiah 30:18).

• He is love (1 John 4:7–9).

Take time this week to study God’s character and then very specifically think of examples in your life where you’ve experienced these attributes firsthand. Talk about it with your kids and remind them that there is a real enemy who wants to twist their thoughts away from the truth of who God is in their lives.

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Knowing the attributes of God and using that truth to take our thoughts captive is our winning weapon against an enemy who seeks to fill our minds with discouragement and doubt.

2. OUR THOUGHTS ABOUT OURSELVES

A second critical thought pattern to examine is our thoughts about ourselves.

The Enemy wants us to believe we are unlovable and that God can’t be on our side because we’ve done too many bad things, or maybe just not enough good things. If he can convince us we are worthless, insignificant, and unlovable, then we are no longer a viable threat for God’s kingdom because we aren’t pursuing God’s plans. People who feel unlovable and worthless are unlikely to lead the crusade of preaching God’s message of salvation and hope to the world.

It’s once again critical that we take our thoughts captive by going back to who and whose we are. We need to stay rooted in verses that speak to our identity in Christ. Case in point, I wrote a series of identity cards designed to be a visual reminder to teens of their true value. Ironically, the cards I wrote geared for kids ended up personally reminding me of my worth in Jesus.

How quickly I had forgotten who and whose I was until I went back and studied God’s word on my true identity. Every single one of us needs the reminder.

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Here’s an example:

Zephaniah 3:17 says that God literally rejoices over us. Why? It’s not because of anything we’ve done, but because of who we are. He’s rejoicing over us because:

• Jesus came to give us eternal life.

• We are fearfully and wonderfully made.

• We belong to him.

• He has big plans for our lives.

• We are his treasured possessions.

• He delights in us.

When is the last time you reminded yourself (and your kids) that Jesus doesn’t love us out of obligation but because we are his most treasured creation?

And have you really considered that Jesus literally sings to the universe of his love for us as individuals?

When we’re feeling unworthy or unlovable, the truth of Scripture is a powerful visual that the Lord of the universe rejoices over us in song.

When we ground our thoughts about ourselves in the truth, it can’t help but change our perspective and inf luence our minds. We take captive our thoughts about ourselves when we line them up with truth and only allow God’s word to inform us of our worth and value.

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The truth of your identity is this:

• You are fully known.

• You can stand alone.

• You are safe.

• You are being pursued.

• You have a purpose.

• You have hope.

• You are free.

• You are forgiven.

• You have a new name.

• You are heard.

• You are strong.

• You are God’s child.

Loving God with all your mind means using your mind to fully know God’s great love for you and the plans he has for your life.

BE MINDFUL

We’ve discussed the need to take captive our thoughts by examining what we think about God and what we think about ourselves. But a discussion of our thoughts would be incomplete if we didn’t consider the things that we fill our

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minds with every day that eventually spill into our thoughts.

Remember when our parents used to be so totally uncool and say, “Garbage in, garbage out”?

I, for one, met that nonsense with my best thirteen-year-old eye roll as I finished off my Fruit Roll-Up and watched MTV. Although they were super lame at the time, in retrospect I do believe our parents had a valid point: what we allow in our minds will inf luence our thoughts and f low out through our actions.

This has never been more evident than by watching the impact of social media on this generation’s self-esteem and the studies correlating it with increased depression. It’s a tough balance to strike knowing that you’re created perfectly by God in his image, yet not feeling wholly adequate while scrolling through Instagram and looking at “perfect” pictures of “perfect” families on their “perfect” vacations.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not on a crusade to get rid of social media, as I firmly believe that “the internets” and “the Google” are crucial to spreading the word of God to every corner of our planet. I’m simply suggesting that we are working at a deficit if we don’t balance the time we spend on Facebook with the time we spend in “the book.”

Let’s not just pick on social media. It’s also worth thinking about entertainment and how we choose to unwind. We might need to consider whether binge-watching Game of Thrones honors the One who’s actually on the throne. Or maybe we need

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to reconsider if our favorite poolside reading is Fifty Shades of ungodly? (Please don’t miss these double entendres I’m rolling out. I’m real proud of myself here.)

Filling our minds with the things of God means a commitment to knowing God’s word and actually letting it transform us. It’s spending time in the Bible when we honestly might rather spend time online. It’s putting value on the things God values and not basing it on the health of our 401(k). It’s taking every one of those forty thousand thoughts each day and wrangling them for the Lord, being intentional in what we allow to enter our minds. We’ve got to guard our minds so that we always have our eye on our ultimate goal of loving God.

Speaking of goals, this makes me think of my four-year-old’s soccer team (I told you that I have a short attention span). My sweet husband agreed to coach these little darlings as they embarked on their first attempt at group sports. They are undeniably fabulous in their cute little shorts hanging down to their ankles and shin guards the size of a large Band-Aid. But, for all they offer in cuteness, they grossly lack the skill and focus necessary for playing a sport.

We (the parents) stand on the sidelines dying as the coaches tie shoes, take away water bottles, pick up the straggling teammate(s) laying midfield, and continuously shout, “Wrong goal! You’re running the wrong way!”

Don’t you know God feels the same way about us so often when it comes to our thoughts?

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He’s trying to get us to focus, pay attention to the opponent, and, by all means, run toward the right goal of knowing what we mean to him.

Bless our hearts.

DON’T FORGET TO REMEMBER

We’ve put lots of punch behind our thoughts this week and how they impact our mind. Let’s wrap up with a few words on the importance of our memory (again, part of our mind) when it comes to loving God.

One of my very favorite passages in the Bible is in Joshua 4, where the Israelites, after crossing the Jordan, take their stones of remembrance and build an altar. Joshua told the Israelites it would be a reminder to all people that “the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God” (Joshua 4:24 NIV).

The Israelites had been through something pretty high drama as they watched the Jordan dry up the second they dipped their big toe into the water. But it slays me to think about how they got to the other side and immediately took the stones they collected out of the riverbed and built an altar to the Lord there.

Why an altar? So they would never forget what their powerful God had just done.

To love God with all of our mind, we need to tap into our memory of how good God has been in our lives. We need to have stones of remembrance

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all around us, serving as reminders of the times God protected our marriage, provided finances, healed a friend, and, most especially, when he gave us eternal life.

In his book Glory Days, Max Lucado, says to “create a trophy room in your heart. Each time you experience a victory, place a memory on the shelf. Before you face a challenge, take a quick tour of God’s accomplishments. Remember what God has done. Face the future by remembering the past.”

Our mind processes thought after thought every minute of every day, making it easy to forget the past. We need to be reminded of God’s faithfulness by stacking stones that represent his faithfulness and love in our lives. When someone loves you so actively and sacrificially, it gets a whole lot easier to love them back with all your mind (and heart, and soul, and strength).

And look at the parenting application in Joshua 4:6–7: “When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.”

You getting this? Not only do we need a healthy memory of God’s faithfulness for ourselves, but we do it also for our kids.

Our stones of remembrance are a testimony to our family of God’s powerful hand of protection. Don’t miss even one opportunity to grab the

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metaphorical stones from the dry riverbed of God’s faithfulness.

Otherwise, how will our kids know of his long history of loving us and providing for our every need?

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G O A T C H A L L E N G E WEEK 3

A. STOP AND THINK ABOUT IT.

This is the week to think about what you’re thinking about.

Take time to ref lect on the forty thousand Take time to ref lect on the forty thousand thoughts passing through your mind and figure thoughts passing through your mind and figure out any patterns. out any patterns.

Make a few notes on the most common thoughts and decide if they are based on truth or something else (e.g., fear, insecurity, hopelessness, insignificance).

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal where your thoughts are straying from God’s truth and ask for help aligning them with Scripture.

Do the same exercise with your kids. Do the same exercise with your kids.

Admittedly, they are probably not as in touch with their thoughts as one might hope, but it’s still possible to get a little bit of context by listening to what comes out of their mouths.

When they say things that are self-deprecating or just f lat-out false, kindly call them out on it. Then write out or text Scripture to them based in truth.

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B. HOW ABOUT A HIATUS?

Take a healthy assessment of what fills your mind each day and the amount of time God’s word gets versus social media, TV, and other entertainment in your house.

Consider a one-week hiatus from one of your Consider a one-week hiatus from one of your primary forms of entertainment. primary forms of entertainment.

Use that time to do something that benefits your mind. Read God’s word, read a book on apologetics, memorize Scripture, spend time in prayer, listen to Christian music instead of the usual playlist, or spend time with a friend who points you to Jesus. The options are endless.

Have your kids consider trading out something Have your kids consider trading out something that is inf luencing their thoughts negatively for that is inf luencing their thoughts negatively for something that brings them the hope of Jesus. something that brings them the hope of Jesus.

Maybe a day of saying adios to the Xbox and hello to serving someone around them.

C. STACK SOME STONES.

This definitely can be a metaphorical exercise of remembering the times when God has shown himself faithful in your life. However, you can also make this a literal exercise.

Make a list of God’s faithfulness, and place Make a list of God’s faithfulness, and place objects around the house that serve as objects around the house that serve as reminders.reminders.

For example, I have an actual rock on my desk with the word remember etched on it. This is my very literal reminder to stop and remember the places where God has been faithful in my life so I can have confidence in his faithfulness to come in the future.

I also have dates saved in my calendar on my phone that pop up every year, reminding me of when and how God came through in a big way on that particular date.

Help your kids remember the times when God Help your kids remember the times when God has been faithful in their lives too. has been faithful in their lives too.

Grab rocks and write dates or words on them in permanent marker to leave in your kids’ rooms. Put reminders on their phones. Find a way to be sure they remember the test they passed, the surgery that went well, or even the lesson they learned during a hard time with friends.

I’m not shooting for a Fast Pass to Hoarders with all our random rocks and trinkets laying everywhere. But stacking stones is a visual reminder of God’s provision in our lives, and a purposeful way to love him with all of our mind.

It’s the last week of our month-long study of the GOAT commandment, and we’re coming in hot as we wrap up with loving God with all of our strength. Let’s summarize:

1. In week one, we talked about loving God with our heart, which is the “what” we are and oftentimes revealed by how we spend our days.

2. In week two, we talked about loving God with our soul, which is “who” we are at our core and what fills our soul.

3. In week three, we talked about loving God with all of our mind, which is “why” we are who we are and the role of our thoughts.

Love God with all your strength:

W H E R E W E A R E

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This week, we’re focused on loving God with our strength, which means loving him “where” we are and with all we’ve got to offer.

In other words, wherever the Lord has planted you and with whatever resources he’s provided, use all your strength to love him smack-dab in the middle of it all.

FIND YOUR “MUCH-NESS”

Contrary to how it sounds, the call to love God with all of our strength is not a reference to our physical strength. The Hebrew word used for strength in the context of the GOAT commandment is me’od, which is translated as “much” or “very.”

So, loving God with all of our strength is a commitment to loving God with our “much-ness.” It’s using our possessions, our time, our talents, our parenting, our volunteering . . . everything we’ve got to love God and live for him.

So, what is the much-ness you have to offer?

Start by answering a few questions:

• What are you good at?

• What do people compliment you on, or in what circumstances do you tend to excel?

• What has the Lord blessed you with in terms of finances, possessions, smarts, or position?

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Once you’ve identified some areas of your much-ness, loving God with all your strength means finding ways to love God with it and through it. It’s giving him all of your party-planning skills, your math aptitude, your business savvy, or your social media acumen. It’s taking the seemingly small places in your life and finding every possible way to use those same things for the bigger purposes of God.

In an effort to be very practical, bear with me as I share an example of God using my family’s much-ness.

We have an unusually large island in the middle of the kitchen that we inherited when we purchased the house. Nobody in their right mind would want an island this large. It’s fairly disproportionate to the size of the kitchen and it’s about a mile trek every time I have to get around it to help one of my kids. Nonetheless, it’s there.

Many years ago, the Lord laid it on our hearts that we needed to help serve hungry kids in our city in some capacity. After much prayer and research, we started a sack lunch program out of our house in conjunction with a local food bank. Each week of the summer, we invite our friends over to help us assemble four hundred sack lunches for kids who don’t receive a free lunch when school is out.

Guess what has been the biggest blessing the last six years as we have hosted these forty-plus people in our house making PB&Js and assembling sack lunches?

Yep, the ridiculously large island.

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God took the desire to help hungry kids in our city, combined it with my love of hosting people in our home, and used the much-ness of an oversized island to help others. The best part? As we do this, we have the joy of loving God with all of our strength.

Please hear me: I don’t say this to pat myself on the back by any means. I’m just hoping that this silly example of much-ness will encourage you to find yours. It doesn’t have to be something unique and fabulous, but just anything and everything you’re willing to give to God to be used for his purposes.

As you take time this week to consider your areas of much-ness, make sure you consider your spiritual gifts. When we accept Jesus into our heart, we are supernaturally given spiritual gifts to accomplish God’s purposes on earth. Some of the spiritual gifts listed in Scripture include leadership, teaching, encouragement, mercy, giving, faith, and discernment.

How do you know your spiritual gifts?

Study the different ones in the Bible and ask God to reveal yours to you. You might also ask others around you what spiritual gifts they see in you or complete the spiritual gifts assessment at denisonforum.org/spiritual-gifts-assessment.

Finally, take note of where you are asked to serve. The Lord will give you opportunities to serve in the areas where he has gifted you.

And, if your kids have accepted Jesus, be intentional to notice their gifts too. Encourage

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them to serve in areas that are consistent with their gifts.

Netting it out, to love God with all of our strength, we find ways to love him where we are with what we’ve got.

If he has you teaching preschool, pray for ways to love him with all of your strength through teaching. If you work in marketing, find every possible way to use your marketing skills to share Jesus. If you’ve got a killer knack for making Cornish game hens, well, it’s at least worth an offer to see if God wants to use it. Ha!

Spend time this week asking the Lord how you can do your job and use your gifts in ways that bring him glory. Pray for the Lord to use you for his greater purposes right where he has you with all that he’s given you, teaching you to love him with all your strength as you do it.

We’re abundantly blessed with much-ness. Let’s go out and use it!

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR

As you know, the whole premise behind this GOAT Challenge is to dig deep for thirty days into Jesus’ command to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Our purpose is to figure out what the Shema looks like practically and how to pursue it with our families.

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Before we wrap up this study though, there’s just one thing we can’t skip over when it comes to the GOAT commandment (it’s kind of a big thing actually).

Jesus didn’t throw out the GOAT and then drop the metaphorical mic, calling it a day. Nope, our passage says that Jesus first commanded we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength—but then he also commanded us to love our love our neighbors as ourselves neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:31).

Now, before we just gloss over this as a nicety and go about our business, let’s really stop and consider the impact of this second commandment.

Think about the significance coming solely from the fact that Jesus even articulated these words. He could have only given the first commandment to love God, which would have somewhat appeased the Pharisees and everyone could have moved on. After all, the expert in the law didn’t ask Jesus for the top two commands; he asked for the one greatest commandment.

But Jesus, fully aware that anything he said would be subject to great scrutiny, still considered it important enough to tell us that we’re to love our neighbor.

Are you following? He literally could not separate the importance of our love for him with the need to love our neighbor.

John Piper, weighing in on the magnitude of Jesus’s second commandment, says, “That’s enough to raise the stakes here almost as high

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as they can be raised. We have the greatest commandment in all the revelation of God to humanity (Love God); and we have the second greatest, which is like the greatest (Love your neighbor).” Jesus is making it clear that there’s really no way to consider the two commandments separate and apart from each other, meaning that you can’t love your neighbor completely if it doesn’t come from your love of God. Nope, there are just too many opportunities to be busy, frustrated, annoyed, judgmental, and disenchanted to actually show love to our neighbor in our own strength. It’s got to come from God.

Similarly, if you really love God with your heart, soul, mind, and strength, it will inevitably compel you to love your neighbor. The Apostle John says it this way: “Anyone who doesn’t love does not know God because God is love. God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:7–12).

Even though Jesus gives two separate commandments to the Pharisees, it’s abundantly clear they are dependent on each other. One cannot be accomplished effectively without the other.

WHO’S YOUR NEIGHBOR?

In Luke’s version of this account, after Jesus adds the commandment to love your neighbor, the expert in the law follows up with this question: So, who is my neighbor anyway? (Luke 10:29).

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Let’s pause here for a quick chuckle. Don’t you know Jesus is thinking, “What just happened here?

Did this ‘expert’ in the law just ask me to explain who

his neighbor is? You can’t even make this stuff up.”

Who of us hasn’t had one of those moments when you can’t believe you’re having to explain something that’s so seemingly obvious?

For example, I once heard myself telling my preschooler that he is not allowed to ride his bike outside without wearing underwear.

What? Does that premise even need to be stated?

Never mind that he didn’t have pants on either. At that point, I was just looking for some basic coverage, so I was focused on him wearing the bare essentials (pun intended).

It’s almost surreal the words I hear coming out of my mouth each day in parenting that no person would think they would ever need to say. I’m wondering if Jesus felt the same way as he went on to define one’s “neighbor.” But I digress.

Here’s what it comes down to when we consider loving our neighbor: Jesus isn’t caught up in the proximity but in the priority. Said another way, Jesus focuses less on the next-to than the need-to.

He’s asking us to give the same level of concern to the needs of those around us that we give to ourselves, our family, or our close friends. He wants us to love him by loving those he loves. He wants us to stop thinking so much about ourselves when we’re surrounded by people with a desperate need for him.

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There’s an article online titled “10 Ways to Love your Neighbor without Being Weird.” It’s completely hilarious, and I wish I would have come up with that title.

But seriously, how do we love our neighbor? Biblically speaking, here are some basics:

• Be nice (Ephesians 4:32).

• Be humble (Colossians 3:12).

• Live generously (1 Timothy 6:18–19).

• Love those who hate you (Luke 6:27).

• Help widows and orphans (Isaiah 1:17).

• Don’t slander people (Psalm 34:13).

• Don’t hold a grudge (Leviticus 19:18).

• Show forgiveness (Matthew 6:14–15).

• Don’t judge (Matthew 7:1–5).

• Be hospitable (Hebrews 13:2).

Practically speaking, just show up. Or perhaps some of us should go a step further and show up and shut up (I’m mostly speaking to myself ).

I promise that not one of your neighbors is hoping today that you will drop by armed with your greatest theological treatise or moral dogma. That’s not how it works. We’ve got to earn our place at the table, which comes in the form of humbly submitting to God’s command to start by simply loving those around us.

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Notice that Jesus didn’t command us to go and set them straight or point out their offenses. He also didn’t tell us to go love those who are lovable or only take care of those who are appreciative (ouch).

Nope, he just asked us to love our neighbor. It’s breathtakingly simple when you really think about his words.

Jesus cares about:

• Priority instead of proximity

• Relationship instead of religion

• Serving instead of inserting

• Caring instead of condemning

• Loving instead of lecturing

• Feeding instead of fearing

• Joining instead of judging

Love your neighbor. It’s not that hard; it’s just not that easy.

This Bob Goff quote perfectly sums up our study this week on loving God with all of our strength: “I think God’s hope and plan for us is pretty simple to figure out. For those who resonate with formulas, here it is: add your whole life, your passions, and your interests together with what God said He wants us to be about, and that’s your answer.”

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G O A T C H A L L E N G E WEEK 4

A. USE YOUR “MUCH-NESS.”

Where can you love God with all your strength by giving him your much-ness?

Take five minutes and list some of your talents, Take five minutes and list some of your talents, gifts, possessions, and resources. gifts, possessions, and resources.

Then take that list and ask the Lord to show you how to use at least one of them for his glory this week.

If you haven’t already, complete the spiritual gifts assessment at denisonforum.org/spiritual-gifts-assessment and see what spiritual gifts you have that can be used to love God with all your strength.

Bring your kids along with you as you work Bring your kids along with you as you work through this. through this.

Talk to them about what it means to love God with their strength and how it’s not a physical strength. Rather, it’s always looking for ways to use anything and everything to honor and love God. Take the opportunity to affirm them as you discuss their talents and giftings while also brainstorming ways they can use them for God.

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B. SHARE THE LOVE.

Since your neighbor is anyone and everyone in your path, it’s time to come up with a plan on how to love God by loving them well.

Ask the Lord whom he would have you call, Ask the Lord whom he would have you call, text, feed, serve, or just invest in this week. Get text, feed, serve, or just invest in this week. Get specific.specific.

It might be a neighbor in proximity and you need only to walk out the front door and get neighborly. That seems innocuous enough.

But maybe it’s taking it a step further and asking the Lord how you can love someone in your life who is difficult or who has actually hurt you. It may be that you need to go pray in front of that person’s house, or invite their child over to play, or maybe even take a meal and just show up without any explanation or expectation.

For a practical way to approach this with your For a practical way to approach this with your kids, ask them to think about their much-ness in kids, ask them to think about their much-ness in terms of physical possessions. terms of physical possessions.

Challenge them to donate a certain number of items to a charity this week. Not just the nasty ol’ shorts that nobody wants, but ask them to sacrificially love their neighbor and God by sharing from their much-ness.

I think you will be surprised at their generosity.

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C. DOUBLE UP ON THE COMMANDMENTS.

Think back to my personal example of the kitchen island. God took a place in my heart where I was burdened (hungry kids) and used my much-ness to love my neighbor. See how this perfectly demonstrates how the two commandments are so intertwined?

Where’s that place of burden for you? Where’s that place of burden for you?

What breaks your heart every time you see a particular need or hear a story about it? What can you not stop thinking about when you consider where you would like to make a difference?

Combine this conviction with your much-ness (your finances, your business smarts, your professional background) and go meet some needs.

Get your kids involved too. Get your kids involved too.

• If you feel burdened for the homeless, use your finances to get a group together to do blessing bags to hand out to those in need.

• If your child is outgoing and extroverted, let them use their social wherewithal to get a bunch of kids involved in making the bags and handing them out.

• If they are a natural leader, let them organize the endeavor and have that sense of being part of the solution.

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• If your child saves money well, have them consider using their financial much-ness to support a child in need through a reputable online organization.

• If they love sports, encourage them to take time to help younger kids around them with private lessons or even to donate their old equipment to a church that serves low-income families.

We all know that most of what our kids get from us is “caught” not “taught.” Let’s use this challenge (and all of the challenges this month) to tangibly get our kids involved in loving God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength.

And let’s not make this a one-month initiative. Instead, let’s consider how this can be a lifestyle of actively pursuing the GOAT commandment in all that we do.

As we wrap up, take a minute to read The Message

version of our GOAT verses. Let these words resonate as we consider some final thoughts.

The Most Important Commandment The Most Important Commandment (Mark 12:28–32, MSG)

One of the religion scholars came up. Hearing the lively exchanges of question and answers and seeing how sharp Jesus was in his answers, he put in his question: “Which is most important of all the commandments?”

Jesus said, “The first in importance is, ‘Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.’ And here is and intelligence and energy.’ And here is the second: ‘Love others as well as you love the second: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment that yourself.’ There is no other commandment that ranks with these.” ranks with these.” (emphasis added)

L I V E M A R K E D

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It’s just so beautiful and simply put: Love God with all of your “passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.” Said differently, just love him always with everything.

After the GOAT commandment is first given in the Shema in Deuteronomy, it is followed up with what I believe is some of the most significant parenting advice found anywhere in Scripture:

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them You shall teach them diligently to your children, and you shall diligently to your children, and you shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. (Deuteronomy 6:6–8, emphasis added)

That right there is the crux of raising kids who are set apart for Jesus.

We’ve got to be committed to leading our kids to love God when they wake up, when they go to bed, on the way to baseball, on vacation, coming home from preschool, getting dressed for prom, at the party Friday night, when someone was mean to them, and everywhere in between.

We’ve got to be less concerned with their academic potential and more interested in their heart for the lonely kid. We’ve got to encourage them to put down their phones and pick up their Bibles. And we’ve got to be relentless in our own commitment to pursuing God and honoring his word.

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When we accept Jesus we are literally marked as one of his own (Ephesians 1:13). We are given the Holy Spirit as a down payment of what’s to come when we have the full glory of Jesus surrounding us in all eternity.

Why does this matter?

Because our value is already established and our purpose is significant. We are marked by our master and given the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide us as we love God and live fully for him.

Here’s the reality: we live in a culture that desperately needs God.

Here’s a second reality: we also live in a culture that desperately needs you and me to raise families that really love God.

When we love God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength, we will naturally love those around us and point them back to their only hope: Jesus.

Each day, we encounter people struggling with anger, stress, overachievement, anxiety, addiction, and more.

They are marked by it.

We are marked by Jesus. Let’s love like it.

A B O U T P A R D O N T H E M E S S

We hope you enjoyed this thirty-day challenge and that it was a valuable resource for your family. If you are not familiar with Pardon the Mess, we are a podcast resource of Christian Parenting and committed to joining you in raising kids who know Jesus and live as lights to our culture.

With this as our mission, Christian Parenting offers resources such as blogs, personalized Scripture texted to your teens, podcasts, and a variety of printed resources to support parents in every phase of parenting.

If you haven’t already, be sure to listen to Pardon the

Mess, wherever you get your podcasts. Each episode has honest discussions with real people about the ups and downs of parenting and the lessons God is teaching them along the way. Check out our interviews with Priscilla Shirer, Christine Cain, Jennie Allen, and so many more. It’s fun, it’s real, it’s biblical, and it’s for everyone.

We pray that our ministry will resource you as you raise kids to know and value Christ, even when doing so seems to be increasingly countercultural.

In this with you,Cynthia Yanof

pardonthemess.org christianparenting.org

A B O U T C Y N T H I A Y A N O F

Cynthia Yanof is a wife, mom, blogger, and the host of the Pardon the Mess podcast. She has a relaxed style of interviewing, combining her quick wit and sense of humor with a firm commitment to never taking herself too seriously.

She loves Jesus, her family, foster care, and having lots of friends around her as often as possible. Cynthia is relatable, real, and a friend to all of us just trying to walk the parenting road in a meaningful way that’s pleasing to the Lord.