Loving God

Now that we have a little understanding of what it means to love, and that godly love is possible through the Holy Spirit’s power in our lives, we need to look at who we are to love.    Jesus was very specific that the first object of our love is to be God himself.   Mark 12:29-30 tells us, “And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”

In John 14:15, Jesus commanded, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” In John 14:21, he explained, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.”  If we are to please God, it is critical that we love him, which we demonstrate by keeping his commands.  In order to keep his commands, we will have to learn what they are. 

The Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-20 commands, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”  We are to go out and win people to Christ, to disciple them.  Then we are to baptize or immerse them in the name of the Father, the Son, and The Holy Spirit, which involves far more than simply dipping them in the water.  Finally, we are to teach them to observe or obey all his commands so that they can show their love and please God.   The job is not finished until we complete all three parts.  When they learn to show that love, they will begin to understand God’s love for them.

That obedience to God’s commands is clear indicator as to ones love or lack of love for God, as Jesus says in John 14:23-24.  “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.  He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.”

God is a loving father, and wants to have a loving relationship with us.   When a child refuses to do what his parents want, he causes a frustration, and if they care about him, they try to correct his behavior.  Frequently this results in the child feeling his parents don’t care about him.  When we go against God, it has the same result.  The problem is not that he doesn’t love us, but that we don’t love him enough to obey.  We see a lot of unhappy and discouraged Christians today, either because they haven’t learned what God wants, or they aren’t obeying his commands.    Unfortunately, this is often because they haven’t been taught to obey God’s commands.  Even those who are trying are frequently caught up in the mechanical actions rather than acting out of love, and as I Corinthians 13:1-3 tells us, without the proper attitude of love, the actions are meaningless and worthless.