If someone were to ask you to define love, what would you say? All of our answers would be different but we can all agree that it means having a deep affection for something or someone. If someone said that they loved you, you would expect nothing less. Rather, you would expect them to show by action and you would have to believe they meant it and will not vary. Can we say the same thing about our love for the Lord? Is our love for Him unwavering and we love Him with all that we are? Today, let us discuss what it means to love the Lord and how that love looks like.
To start this discussion, let us look at Matthew 22:37. It states “…You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This was Jesus’ response to a lawyer who asked Him what was the greatest commandment. When we reread Jesus’ response, He uses the term “with all”; this means with everything that we are. The Lord should be the first love of your life before everything else. Why? When we look at our lives, it is a vapor that can pass away at any time (James 4:14). So the things that we love in this world will one day pass away because they are temporary. When it comes to people that we love, they can fail us but God will never fail us. He understands us more than anyone else ever will.
When God is in your heart, He can give you an unconditional love for others. However, we were not made to live forever in this world. God is eternal and so is our soul. We should focus on what is eternal since everything will fail and we have to answer to God one day for our actions. However, if we believe in Jesus and what He did for us, we will be saved. On our part, we have to live a life that honors and obeys God if we want to spend our eternity with Him. We cannot obey God’s Word unless we truly love Him (John 14:15). So how do we have this love for the Lord?
When we think of someone we love, we want to give our time and devotion because that is where our affection lies. If we claim to love someone but we do not give them any importance, do we love that person? When it comes to the Lord, do we have a desire to spend time with Him or His Word? In the spiritual realm, there is a constant battle for who has our soul. If we want the Lord to be in charge, we have to allow Him full access and we keep running to Him. Colossians 3:2 says “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” When we focus more on the Lord and how to obey His Word, our affection for Him grows stronger. When we love the Lord, we will know how to love others too.
So how does our life look like when the Lord is our first love? Our actions and words will show that we love Him. For example, Colossians 3:8 states “…you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.” Such action shows you reverence and love the Lord to keep His commandments. We will also love one another as God has loved us. We cannot claim to love God if we do not love our brothers and sisters in Christ. In God’s eyes, He will know that we love Him because we obey His Word. We may not be able to memorize all His commandments, but God through the Holy Spirit will speak to us on what is the right thing to do.
When it comes to our personal relationship with the Lord, we will always strive to spend time with Him. Why? It is because we know there is nothing more satisfying than time with the Lord. When we do, the Lord will give us exactly what we need. Our relationship with the Lord will not always be perfect but if we repent and ask God’s forgiveness, He is ready to forgive and make us new again. However, we should not keep going back to what God has delivered us from. The more time we spend with God and His Word, the stronger we become in Him and our love for Him grows stronger as well. God wants all of your heart, mind, soul, and strength; not a partial.
Our love for the Lord may not be where we want it to be or we want it to grow deeper. If we want to have a deep love for the Lord, we need to discipline ourselves to think on the things above and not on the world. The world will one day pass away but we will have to give an account on what we did with His Word. If we obey and serve the Lord full heartedly, we will spend our eternity with Him. If not, we will be eternally separated from God in Hell. The Lord wants our affection to first go to Him and He promises to take care of everything when we ask in faith. Only the Lord can fill the void that we have in our heart for Him because we were created to serve our Creator. We just choose on whether we want to serve Him or not. Today, let us learn to love the Lord with all of our being and we will see His hand in all areas of our life.
Thought for the week: How much do you love the Lord? How can you show in your life that you love the Lord?