Most of us have heard about 'THE GREAT COMMANDMENT' where Jesus was asked by a Pharisee of "which is the great commandment in the law?" found in Matthew 22:36. Jesus responded in verse 37, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with ALL thy heart, and with ALL thy soul, and with ALL thy mind." Then He goes on to say how that is the first and great commandment and followed by a second that is like unto the first which is to love your neighbor as yourself.
Notice that I emphasized the word 'ALL' in verse 37. It is that word that makes me feel like a failure to God when I start to honestly examine myself only to find I don't really love God with ALL my heart, soul, and mind. By the way, in Mark 12:30, Jesus includes to love God "with ALL thy strength." Oh goodness, I definitely don't use ALL my strength for God since there's a lot of demands here on earth that requires attention. Just as our love is divided between God, family, friends, and so on. And you can definitely forget about me honestly loving God with ALL my mind since my mind seems to have a mind of it's own at times.
May I share with you some good news before you give up and throw in the towel? Although Jesus answered this in the New Testament, He was answering what the great commandment was 'in the LAW' (verse 36). He was giving us the 'GREAT COMMANDMENT' according to the OLD TESTAMENT. Be sure and read verse 40 when Jesus said "these two commandments hang ALL THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS." Understand that the law DEMANDED love while grace GIVES love and makes it available to us who fall short in giving God ALL of our whole being.
When we fail to realize this, we will continue to live a continuous cycle of performance-driven Christianity where it's every person for themselves and constantly manipulating others to make ourselves look spiritual in the sight of men. We will continue to put on our facades and never actually show the real person underneath the surface. It's a life lived out of INSECURITY rather than living loved by God. I like how a dear Christian brother, Wayne Jacobsen, states it about how we live our lives based on 'COMMITMENT' rather than love. Just like a married couple can be together just solely based on 'commitment' and really not love each other. As Wayne puts it, "Commitment becomes a substitute for not really loving others or God." It's kind of like the church of Ephesus in Revelation. They had the commitment but they left their 'first love.'
So, if there's a GREAT COMMANDMENT for the OLD covenant then what is the commandment for the NEW? Jesus gives it to us in John 13:34, "A NEW COMMANDMENT I give unto you, That ye love one another; AS I HAVE LOVED YOU, that ye also love one another." You see, we love one another when we know we are loved by Him. How much does the Father love you? Jesus tells us later on in His prayer in John 17:23 that the Father loves us as much as He loves Jesus. Of course, many people will abuse that and use the love of God to live their own way and they will have to answer to Him for that. But this is for the true believer who is struggling with doubts whether God loves them or not (and yes, also to the non-believer who thinks God would never love them).
Just know that He understands when we fall short of our ALL to Him. That's why Jesus paid it ALL by showing His love to us on the cross. And it is that love toward us that makes us want to love Him back with our words and actions rather than being motivated by our 'commitment.'
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