Daily Devotional

A Ministry of the Kerwin Baptist Church

October 10, 2018

by Pastor Hawtree

Once again, I feel it to be beneficial to you to be able to read this devotional written by Dr. Johnnie Pope. As always, he gives unique insight and thought provoking perspective to the Word of God. Enjoy!

“ALL OF IT”

Text: Mark 12:28-34

Mark 12:30: “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”

II. LOVE WITH PERSONALITY
We are to love the Lord our God with all our soul. The word “soul” comes to us from the Greek word “psuche” meaning “breath, i.e. the vital force that animates the body and shows itself in breathing.” This is evidenced in Genesis 2:7, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Basically, this is the personality of the individual. Everyone has their own unique personality. The Bible says in I Corinthians 15:45, “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.” Christ, the last Adam, through His death, burial and resurrection, has the power to make us alive by the Holy Spirit. And through the captured heart of the believer, the personality is now dominated by a new nature.
Too many times we get judgmental because someone else does not love the Lord in the way we love the Lord with the personality that the Lord gave us. The sanguine personality shows love in a very emotional way and is apt to show outbursts of ecstasy, which often energizes others to join in full commitment to the Lord. The phlegmatic personality is more laid back and expresses love in a quiet and consistent work ethic for God’s glory. The choleric personality is one that often takes the initiative in projects, expressing love by effective leadership. The melancholy personality expresses love in artistic venues of music or creative teaching that is often honed in a lonely atmosphere. Most would conjecture that everyone is at least a combination of two of these personality types with dominance in one. All personality types are needed. I Corinthians 12:18 reminds us, “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.”