49 Ways to Love God and Your Neighbor

“And you shall 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

Heart: your emotions and desires

1. Name what you feel, out loud, to God, once a day.
2. Pray a psalm that matches your mood: 13 when forgotten, 51 after sin, 103 when it’s good, 42 when you’re low, 4 when you can’t sleep.
3. Keep a short gratitude list. Three specific things, every night.
4. When you’re irritable, ask, “What am I wanting right now?”
5. Sing, even if you can’t.
6. Grieve honestly, in God’s presence.
7. Deal with anger before bed.
8. Fast from one comfort to find out how much it owns you.
9. Tell one person how you’re really doing.
10. Remember the cross on purpose. Read a crucifixion account slowly.

Soul: the deepest part of you

1. Start the day with God before the phone.
2. Practice three minutes of silence: “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”
3. Pray the Lord’s Prayer slowly, one line at a time.
4. Keep a Sabbath.
5. Carry a breath prayer into your day.
6. Bless the Lord out loud. Preach to yourself (Psalm 103).
7. Get outside.
8. Take Communion seriously. Come prepared.
9. Take a half-day retreat once a season.

Mind: thinking as worship

1. Read the Bible with a plan, whole books at a time.
2. Memorize one verse a week.
3. Meditate on one sentence. What does it say about God, about you, and what should you do?
4. Read one solid book a quarter, with a pencil.
5. Learn the faith you profess. Work through a catechism or statement of faith.
6. Ask your hard questions out loud, to God and to someone you trust.
7. Audit your inputs for one week against Philippians 4:8.
8. Catch the thought early: “That’s a lie. Here’s what’s true.”
9. Think while you work. Turn the commute into learning time.
10. Teach someone else.

Strength: your body

1. Sleep like you trust God. Aim for seven hours.
2. Move your body most days.
3. Eat with thanks and with limits.
4. Fast once in a while.
5. Get the checkup you’ve been putting off.
6. Work hard with your hands.
7. Use your strength for someone weaker.
8. Guard what your eyes and hands do. Decide ahead of time.
9. Worship with your body: stand, kneel, lift your hands, sing loud.
10. Rest when you’re spent.

+1 Neighbor: love your neighbor as yourself

1. Listen first. Put the phone face down and ask a second question.
2. Learn your actual neighbors’ names, and pray for them.
3. Do one hidden act of service each week.
4. Invest in one younger man or woman.
5. Show up when it’s inconvenient.
6. Serve on a regular team.
7. Practice hospitality. Burgers count.
8. Give generously to a person in need, quietly.
9. Make things right. Apologize without “but.”
10. Love your family first. Ask, “How can I love you better this week?”

These lists come from five articles on loving God with everything, and they’re the categories behind the 12:30+1 in Agōn. Pick a few, then give an account of them to a brother.