Loving God with All Your Heart, Soul, Mind & Strength

Discover this wholehearted approach to Bible study, engaging your heart, soul, mind & strength for deeper connection with God

If Bible study has ever felt more like a to-do list than a way to connect with God, you’re not alone.

I used to be really good at school. Memorizing facts? Filling in blanks? Acing tests? I had that down.

And when I first started Bible study, I treated it the same way.

• Follow the reading plan.
• Check off the boxes.
• Fill in the blanks.

I’d sit with those pages, waiting for lightbulb moments… and sometimes, they came.

But many times, I just felt stuck. Confused. And yes, even a little bored (here’s looking at you, Numbers! 🥴).

As my faith grew, I started realizing something was missing. I craved more than information. I wanted connection.

It felt like I knew about God but wasn’t really connecting with Him. I longed to feel His nearness, hear His voice, and actually experience His presence when I opened His Word.

School had taught me how to study and memorize, but no one had shown me how to fully engage with Scripture. With my Savior Himself.

That longing slowly reshaped the way I approached Scripture, leading me to wonder:

What would it look like to study the Bible the way Jesus described loving God – with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength?

Relationally.

Wholeheartedly.

Not like a student preparing for a test…but like a daughter sitting with her Father.

Slowly, it began to shift. Bible study felt less like “doing devotions” and more like being with God.

Not just gathering information, but growing in relationship with the One the Word is all about.

And while I’m still learning, still growing, still adapting… I’ve found that wholehearted Bible study isn’t just possible, it’s deeply transformative. It can draw you into a deeper, more personal, more intimate relationship with God than you ever imagined.

It’s what brought Bible study to life for me and lit a fire in my desire to truly know my Savior.

And I want that for you, too.

In this post, I’m sharing what I’ve learned about studying the Bible with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, and how that wholeheartedness shows up in my own time with God.

❤️ Heart – לֵב (Lev)

In Hebrew, the word for heart (לֵב, lev) doesn’t just mean feelings. It’s much bigger than that.

It’s the inner core of who you are – the place where your thoughts, desires, emotions, and decisions all meet. Your heart is your center, the wellspring that shapes your attitudes, your actions, and your worship.

That’s why Proverbs 4:23 says,

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (ESV)

When we study Scripture with our whole heart, we don’t need to check our feelings at the door. We bring them fully into our time with God, allowing them to point us back to Him and draw us nearer to His presence.

Because the truth is, our emotions, questions, and even doubts aren’t barriers to God. They’re often invitations into deeper intimacy with Him.

Ways I Engage My Heart In Bible Study:

I bring my messy, unprocessed, disorganized, tangled-up self.

I don’t know about you, but I frequently sit down to have a quiet time with God with a brain that is anything but quiet.

Before I even open my Bible, I often do a quick brain dump, scribbling out the swirl of emotions, distractions, and to-do lists crowding my mind.

Getting it on paper helps me clear the noise, prepare my heart and mind to focus on the Lord, and offer my whole self to Him (not just the polished parts).

It’s my way of saying, “Here I am, Lord. Meet me right here, in the middle of the mess. Guide my thoughts, feelings, and steps toward You.”

Sometimes I do brain dumps before I start, if I feel stuck or overwhelmed or distracted in the middle, or if I want to capture my initial response to the passage.

I pay attention to what resonates.

As I read through Scripture, certain verses stir something in me – comfort, conviction, joy, even resistance.

In the past, I pushed down those feelings, writing them off as internal distractions.

Now, I pause and notice.

Sometimes I’ll write it out in my journal, asking God questions and exploring why it feels so significant. Other times I’ll simply star, underline, or jot a quick note.

Those moments are often holy nudges – not noise to dismiss, but invitations to pause, listen, and respond.

I Pray Without Ceasing.

Loving God with your whole heart is relational, and so is Bible study.

As I read, I try to stay in conversation with Him about everything – the joy and heaviness, longing and gratitude, my doubts and fears and struggles.

Sometimes this looks like journaling pages of prayers. Other times it’s just a whispered, “Lord, here’s where I am. Draw me nearer to You.”

Wholehearted Bible study doesn’t bypass your heart or the context you are living in. It engages it.

Loving God with your heart means allowing His Word to shape your desires, guide your decisions, and speak directly into the tender, hidden places of your inner life.

Loving God with our heart means bringing our emotions, questions, and desires into His presence. But wholehearted Bible study doesn’t stop there.

Scripture also calls us to love Him with our soul, offering not just our feelings but our whole, embodied lives to Him.

💜 Soul – נֶפֶשׁ (Nephesh)

In Hebrew, the word for soul (נֶפֶשׁ, nephesh) is rich and layered. (The Bible Project has a great video on this!)

It doesn’t just mean the invisible part of you that lives on after death. Nephesh literally means “life,” “being,” or even “throat” (the part of your body that breathes). It’s your whole self – your physical body, your inner life, your very breath.

When Scripture talks about loving God with all your soul, it’s not talking about one part of you. It’s talking about offering your entire life as an act of devotion to Him – your actions, your choices, and your embodied existence.

Psalm 103:1 says:

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!” (ESV)

All that is within me is what nephesh captures. It’s a call to bring my whole, lived reality to God, not just my spiritual thoughts or Sunday-morning self.

Ways I Engage My Soul in Bible Study:

Visualization

I picture myself in the story.

Sometimes, as I read, I’ll close my eyes and picture myself there – walking beside Jesus, kneeling in the crowd, sitting at His feet.

Holy Spirit-led imagination is something my pastor in Colorado first taught me to do, using visual imagery in prayer, not just as a mental exercise, but as a way to connect with God. (I highly recommend everyone read his book More: When a Little Bit of the Spirit Is Not Enough).

It’s not about making up Scripture. It’s about using my God-given ability to visualize, to feel, to imagine what it might have been like to encounter Him face-to-face.

This practice helps me experience more impact of His truth in all parts of me, not just know it in my head. It allows the story to move from words on a page to a living encounter that stirs my heart and shapes my life.

I connect my study to how I live it out.

Because nephesh is my whole being, engaging my soul in Bible study means asking:

• How does this passage shape the way I speak to my kids today?
• How does this truth change the way I handle my physical body with food, rest, or movement?
• How does what I read today help me love my neighbor, my husband, my friends?

Sometimes I’ll jot down a phrase in my journal that I want to embody that week – something I want to live out with my actual hands and feet.

Now, some Scriptures are descriptive rather than prescriptive. Not every story is meant to be directly copied into my life. Instead, I prayerfully consider what timeless truth about God or faithfulness it reveals and how that might shape my actions today.

Wholehearted Bible study isn’t just for our minds.

It transforms the way we live and breathe, because when we love God with all our soul, every fiber of who we are becomes part of our worship.

I Bring In The Other Side Of My Brain With Creativity

Creativity doesn’t neatly fit into the “heart” or “mind” container, so I added it here as a part of our whole self.

Some days, I draw a simple stick figure, usually an image that came to mind in my study or prayer time. I’ve drawn a whole lot of stick figure women kneeling down with arms outstretched in awe and worship.

Other times, I sketch out hymn lyrics or write a phrase that keeps echoing in my heart, surrounding it with doodles or music notes.

These aren’t meant to be polished or Instagram-perfect. They’re just personal. Another way to slow down, to reflect, and to let truth settle deeper.

There’s something powerful about bringing the creative side of your brain into Bible study. It helps move truth from just something you understand to something you experience.

And it’s not just a warm, fuzzy add-on. It’s a legitimate, science-backed approach to deeper learning. Engaging both sides of your brain, logical and creative, has been shown to improve memory, enhance understanding, and increase emotional connection to what you’re learning.

When we draw, visualize, sing, or use our imagination in the process of study, it activates different neural pathways and helps truth take root in more lasting, integrated ways.

It’s an important addition to Bible study and staying present with God.

To let His Word linger.

And to carry it with me, not just in my mind, not just in my heart, but in my whole self.

When we bring our whole selves to God, Scripture begins to shape not only our actions and choices but also our thinking. Loving God with our soul naturally flows into loving Him with our mind, allowing His truth to renew our thoughts and free us from the lies we’ve believed.

🧠 Mind – διάνοια (Dianoia)

In Greek, the word for mind (dianoia) refers to deep thought, understanding, and reasoning.

It’s where we process information, wrestle with ideas, and make sense of truth. God gave us minds capable of learning, remembering, discerning, and imagining.

When Jesus says in Matthew 22:37 to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” He’s calling us to engage Scripture thoughtfully. Not to shut off our thinking, but to let our thoughts be transformed by Him.

Romans 12:2 says,

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (ESV)

Bible study with our minds means slowing down enough to understand. Not just skimming words for inspiration, but digging into what they truly mean and allowing God to reshape our thinking.

Ways I Engage My Mind in Bible Study:

Study Scripture In Context

I study Scripture in context.

This is where my mind feels most alive, piecing together the bigger picture of God’s Word.

I’ll often open BibleRef to understand what’s happening in a passage. I look at who wrote it, who it was written to, and what’s going on around it. Sometimes I dig into the Greek or Hebrew, noticing the richness of words we often miss in English.

This deepens my understanding and protects me from pulling verses out of context. It roots me in truth.

Verse Mapping

Verse mapping has become one of my favorite ways to engage my mind in Bible study. I take one verse, write it out, mark key words, and write notes with meaning or insights that stood out to me.

Sometimes I’ll add word bubbles, jotting down synonyms, definitions, and connections to other Scriptures.

This process helps me meditate on each facet of the verse, turning it over in my mind like a diamond in my hand, asking God to draw me deeper into His Word and into His presence from every angle.

Take Thoughts Captive

I take my thoughts captive as I read (“taking every thought captive to obey Christ.” – 2 Corinthians 10:5).

One of the most powerful things that happens when I engage my mind in Bible study is the way God uses His Word to shine light into places I didn’t even realize were dark.

Sometimes it’s a quiet realization, seeing how often my inner dialogue is full of shame or self-reliance instead of resting in God’s love. Other times, it’s a gentle but firm reminder that what I’ve believed about myself, my situation, or even God isn’t actually true.

Scripture floods the lies I didn’t even know I was believing with Truth and offers something better:
Hope.
Grace.
Freedom.
A clearer picture of who God really is and who I am in Him.

Wholehearted Bible study isn’t just about gaining new information. It’s about allowing God’s Truth to renew my mind, release me from shame, and guide me into deeper trust (again, it’s about relationship!).

Even as our thoughts are being renewed, loving God wholeheartedly also involves what we do with the capacity and energy He’s given us. Loving Him with all our strength means offering our muchness to meet with Him and live out His Word – every bit of who we are, in every season.

💪 Strength – מְאֹד (Me’od)

When Jesus says to love God with all your strength, the word He’s echoing from Deuteronomy 6:5 is me’od.

It doesn’t actually mean physical strength or willpower. It’s about our muchness – our whole life fully surrendered to Him. (Again, The Bible Project has a fantastic video on this!).

There’s overlap in each of these areas of wholehearted study, but when I think of me’od, I mostly think of capacity.

Me’od invites us to offer the full scope of who we are: our capacity, energy, resources, and even our weaknesses.

This isn’t about performance or spiritual perfection. As Dallas Willard wisely said, “Grace is not opposed to effort; it is opposed to earning.”

And it’s important to remember: strength doesn’t look the same in every season. It’s not measured by might or mastery. It’s the humble offering of our muchness, whatever that happens to be today.

Ways I Engage My Strength in Bible Study:

I choose consistent presence over perfection.

Consistency is a strength of mine, and I credit my parents for that. They modeled what it looks like to keep showing up – on easy days, hard days, inconvenient and uncomfortable days. They taught me the value of building a foundation of steady rhythms that reflect my values and priorities, slowly shaping my life.

That same steady presence has shaped my time in Scripture.

On many mornings, I could easily justify skipping my quiet time:

• Utter exhaustion from another sleepless night
• A sick toddler needing comfort
• A mile-long to-do list pulling me in every direction

And yet, each time I choose to show up, it matters.

Sometimes I bring my full energy and focus. Other times, it’s a widow’s mite of strength (Romans 12:1) offered as a quiet prayer of “Lord, help“, a scribbled short prayer list, or weary eyes barely keeping a verse in focus.

But even when it feels small, God receives it all. He multiplies it.

Over time, this rhythm has simply become part of me – woven into my life so I no longer need to muster willpower or pre-plan. It’s just where I go, because I’ve learned He always meets me there.

I practice humility in the process.

Engaging my strength in Bible study doesn’t mean I always understand what I read.

Some passages puzzle me. Questions linger unanswered. Distractions sometimes drown out His voice.

Instead of shutting down, shaming myself for not “getting it,” or shoving that frustration down and powering through, I’ve learned to pause and allow space to rest in the discomfort.

I pause. Sit with it a little longer. I pray:

“Lord, I don’t fully understand this. Teach me. Help me rest in what I do know of You while I wrestle with what I don’t.”

Sometimes, I’ll do a quick brain dump, untangling the frustration or unsettled feelings on paper.

That’s part of wholehearted strength, too: laying down the pressure to know and master every word, and instead trusting that God is shaping me as I simply stay in communication with Him, inviting His guidance in helping me figure it out one verse or concept at a time.

Showing up with our me’od means Bible study doesn’t rely on flawless discipline or endless energy.

It’s simply this: offering the fullness of who we are, our muchness, to the God who meets us there and makes it enough.

Heart, soul, mind, and strength – it’s not four separate compartments, but a picture of our whole selves coming before a God who meets us fully. This is what makes Bible study truly wholehearted: showing up with every part of who we are and letting Him transform us from the inside out.

A Wholehearted Way Forward

Wholehearted Bible study isn’t about doing everything “right.”

It’s not about perfect quiet times, flawless understanding, or hitting every checkbox on a reading plan.

It’s about showing up, heart, soul, mind, and strength. Just as you are, meeting with the God who delights to meet with you.

Some days, that might look like a deep, quiet hour with your Bible open and notes filling your journal. Other days, it might be a whispered prayer while you rock a baby or a single verse scribbled on a sticky note that carries you through the day.

Either way, every moment you spend seeking Him matters.

Because this is about more than study.
It’s about relationship.

The God who spoke creation into being also speaks tenderly to you. He knows your muchness – your capacity, your questions, your weariness, and your wonder…and He invites you to bring all of it to Him.

That’s the beauty of wholehearted Bible study.

It’s not about having all the answers.

It’s about letting His Word meet you in your real, imperfect, everyday life.

And as you keep showing up, offering your thoughts, emotions, energy, and even your doubts, you’ll find yourself not just knowing about Him, but knowing Him.

That’s my prayer for both of us: That we would keep coming to Scripture not to perform or to perfect, but to draw near to the heart of God – one prayer, one verse, one connecting point at a time.