Love is probably one of the most discussed subjects in the modern church. We are always quick to bring up the love God has for all people and our need to love God because He first loved us. As well as the call placed on every Christians’ life to express love towards all people. All of which are biblical and subjects that must be preached in our churches. But the message of scripture that is often overlooked is that loving God means you obey all His word.
Today we define love as an intense feeling of deep affection or a great interest and pleasure in something. So when we hear people speak of loving God we simply view it as a feeling. But there’s so much more to loving God then simply feeling a certain way about Him. The love Christians have for God involves taking action. Going beyond mere words and allowing our love for the Lord to manifest itself in our lives in a tangible way.
1 John 3:18 (ESV)
18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
Christians are not to simply say or claim that we are lovers of Christ. We are to show it through the way we respond to His word. This is why Jesus said if we love Him then we are to keep His commandments.
John 14:15 (ESV)
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
That statement made by Jesus Himself is extremely clear. If we are willing to speak of loving Him then we must also believe and be willing to keep His word in our lives. John takes this subject even further in his first epistle. Stating that only do we truly know God if we keep His commands. And that anyone who claims to even know God without keeping His commands is a liar.
1 John 2:3–5 (ESV)
3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:
John even goes on to explain that loving God means we keep His commandments. Making mention of the fact that when you are truly in a state of loving God you will not find His commandments burdensome, but the exact opposite. Recognizing the freedom and abundance of life that comes from living out His word.
1 John 5:3 (ESV)
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
The Bible is God’s very word and loving Him means that we must also love it. Scripture is not meant to be the lawman. Or a heavy burden that a ruthless God pushes on His followers. Scripture was given to us by the creator of everything for our personal benefit. Teaching, correcting, and pointing us in the direction of righteousness. All of which prepares and leads us to receive the gift of eternal life.
2 Timothy 3:16–17 (ESV)
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
John 3:16 (ESV)
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Please see that loving God means so much more than having a certain level of feelings about Him. Or that you believe God exists and Jesus is His son. Truly loving God according to the Bible means obeying His word and living your life in accordance with all His commandments.
There is no other option given. Christians are not offered a choice of what to believe in the scripture. Our only options are to take what we have been given and place all our hope and trust in it. Or realize that we do not truly love the Lord but a god of our own creation.
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