The great commandment that Jesus reminds us of is the importance and the necessity of loving God with our whole mind, whole heart, and whole strength--to love God totally for his sake. Why? It is not that God needs love. He is love personified. Only when we love God as fully as we possibly can, do we become fully alive and perfected. Mystery! In giving of ourselves in love to God for his sake, opens us up to that love which fulfills us. It is then that we can truly love another with the love God pours into our hearts. However, something blocks this process. Ourselves. Instead of loving God fully, we feel that we have to love ourselves or more correctly, satisfy our desires first. As a result, our capacity to love and to be loved dries up. No matter how hard we try to love self, we feel empty and unsatisfied. But paradoxically, when we truly love God and love others, our need for love will be fulfilled. Our fallen nature because of sin doesn't agree. But our redeemed nature in Christ seeks to act in this manner.