With Every Fiber of Our Being…

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Absolute and total commitment and devotion should characterize all in which we believe and we do. Anything worth doing is worth doing wholeheartedly because there is little worse in the world than fickleness and lukewarmness. In fact, Jesus on one occasion rebuked a group of people for being lukewarm and fickle regarding their religious devotion. To the church at Laodicea He said: “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold not hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:15-16). There was no room among His faithful followers for those who could not make up their mind as to whether they wanted to serve God or self. Thus He commanded them to clearly state their intention—will they be hot or cold? Lukewarmness was not going to cut it. There is a phrase that we often use when we attempt to illustrate a particular degree of devotion. We will state that our commitment is to something “with every fiber of our being.” God gives us some clearly stated expectations and desires for each of His children that He wants us to incorporate devotedly in our lives. And with every fiber of our being should we comply.

With every fiber of our being we should hate sin. Part of the problem the Laodiceans faced was that they just were not convinced that sin was all that bad. Now, mind you, they were not convinced it was entirely good either, but they just could not bring themselves to hate sin. God, though, hates sin. Solomon listed six things that God hates, seven that were an abomination to Him (Proverbs 6:16-18). And the Bible explicitly identifies the righteous as those who follow Divine example and hate sin as well:

  • Psalm 97:10—”Ye that love the Lord, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.”
  • Psalm 101:3—”I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.”
  • Psalm 119:104—”Through thy precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.”
  • Proverbs 8:13—”The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.”

And especially did God plead for His faithful to hate sin. Amos, the country prophet, plead for repentance among God’s people, but knew it would not come unless they hated sin. Thus he pled: “Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph” (Amos 5:15). If we truly are servants of God, then according to His divine will, we will hate sin with every fiber of our being.

With every fiber of our being we should love God. The other half of the Laodiceans’ problem was that they were not convinced that God was all that good. Of course, they did not believe He was all that bad either; but something had developed within their minds and lives that kept them from fully devoting themselves to God. Manifold are the inspired passages that not only tell us of God’s love for man, but also seek to instill within man a love for God. Foremost that comes to mind is a conversation that took place between Jesus and a certain lawyer:“And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? How readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God will all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself” (Luke 10:25-27).Did you notice the description of the degree of love that man should have for God? With all of our heart, soul, strength, and mind. In other words, with every single part or fiber of our being we should feel and show love for God. Thereby can we find eternal life.

With every fiber of our being we should serve mankind. This does not mean that our lives should be lived according to the stubborn will of the world and what they want. This does mean that we should live to provide them with what they need as prescribed by God. We should teach them about righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come (Acts 24:25). We should be an encouragement to them to put away sin and cleave to a life of enduring obedience to God’s divine will. Such is not only our opportunity but our responsibility (Matthew 28:18-20). And such should be our mission with every fiber of our being.

What we do, we should do wholeheartedly. Preeminently that means we should serve God with everything we have to offer, which is often far more than we give. See the evil of sin, the goodness of God, and the satisfaction of serving your neighbor and work for righteousness with every fiber of your being.

-Andy Brewer

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