...with all your strength."

For the past few weeks I've been using the book, Primal, by Mark Batterson to write a sermon series for the high school youth group at Western Oaks. Last Sunday was Strength Sunday. This was all about loving God with all your Strength.

When I think of strength, one of the first things that comes to mind is my lifting regiment during college. I was on the Track and Field team at Illinois Wesleyan and was required to lift weights every day after practice. Needless to say, I hated this. If you've ever seen me before you'd understand why. I have crazy long toothpick arms. That being said, lifting weights isn't my forte. I did have strength though-everyone does. It is just that my strength didn't lift nearly as much weight as my teammates' strength did. Although the amount of weight we lifted wasn't equal, the amount of sweat we released was. As we all left the weight room every evening we would be pouring in sweat.

That is what loving God with all of your strength is about-sweat. Loving God with all your strength means that you are sweating for God. It means that you are working hard for kingdom causes. It means that you are expending energy to glorify God. (No matter how much weight you can lift).

Thomas Edison said that energy is 90% perspiration. If loving God with all your strength means sweating and expending energy then we should be doing something. James 2:20 tells us that faith without works is dead! Do you have faith? Well then you should be sweating!

Some of you reading this post hate sweating. It's sticky, uncomfortable, and (let's be honest) smells pretty bad. Sweat is uncomfortable. Who ever said that love was comfortable though. Who ever said love was easy? Who ever said love smelled good?

Do you love God with all your strength? Are you sweating for his kingdom?

I'd love to hear how you are sweating for God's kingdom. Fill us in by writing a comment below.

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