Genuine love for God
—and its worth
Genuine love for God—and its worth
All that we have are a manifestation of God’s love and mercy. It is only fitting, then, that we love our Creator.
OF THE THREE great qualities that we ought to have—faith, hope, and love—the most precious is love:
“But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (I Cor. 13:13 New American Standard Bible)
How precious is love? Without it, any achievement is meaningless. Apostle Paul expounds:
“If I had the gift of being able to speak in other languages without learning them and could speak in every language there is in all of heaven and earth, but didn’t love others, I would only be making noise. If I had the gift of prophecy and knew all about what is going to happen in the future, knew everything about everything, but didn’t love others, what good would it do? Even if I had the gift of faith so that I could speak to a mountain and make it move, I would still be worth nothing at all without love. If I gave everything I have to poor people, and if I were burned alive for preaching the Gospel but didn’t love others, it would be of no value whatever.” (I Cor. 13:1-3 Living Bible)
It is love, then, that gives meaning to everything we do.
God above all
The Lord Jesus Christ teaches whom we should love:
“And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’.” (Matt. 22:39 New King James Version)
How pleasant life would be if the world is full of people with genuine love and concern for one another as described in I Corinthians 13:4-7. Hence, it is vital that we love our fellowmen as we love ourselves.
But above all, we should love the Lord God:
“Jesus answered, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind’.” (Matt. 22:37 Good News Bible)
We should have no deeper affection for and devotion to anyone else other than the Lord God. More than anyone else, it is the Father in heaven whom we should love with our whole being because He is our Creator:
“Don’t we all have the same father? Didn’t the same God create us all?” (Mal. 2:10 GNB)
We would not be here today had the Lord God not formed us in our mothers’ womb and kept us alive (Job 12:10; Isa. 44:2). All that we have are a manifestation of His love and mercy. It is only fitting, then, that we love our Creator.
Loving the Lord God
How can we prove that we truly love the Lord God? Expressing our love for Him in words is important but not enough. The Bible clearly teaches what God seeks as the proof of our love for Him:
“This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.” (I John 5:3 New International Version)
Cliché though it may be, the saying “Actions speak louder than words” holds true when it comes to proving our love for God.
Those who claim to know and love God but do not obey His laws are liars, according to I John 2:4 (NKJV). God has sentenced liars to die in the lake of fire come Judgment Day (Rev. 21:8).
Thus, only through obedience to God’s will and decrees can we prove that we genuinely love Him.
We should never think that God’s commands are too many and a burden to keep. If we truly love Him, we would be willing to make sacrifices to obey Him.
Obeying Christ’s command
One command of God that we ought to follow to prove our love for Him is to obey the Lord Jesus Christ:
“But even as he said it, a bright cloud came over them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my beloved Son, and I am wonderfully pleased with him. Obey him’.” (Matt. 17:5 LB)
It is the will of God that we obey His Son, Jesus Christ. By obeying Christ, we manifest our love for God.
The Lord Jesus Christ teaches a command that we should obey, for our own benefit:
“Go in through the narrow gate, because the gate to hell is wide and the road that leads to it is easy, and there are many who travel it. But the gate to life is narrow and the way that leads to it is hard, and there are few people who find it.” (Matt. 7:13-14 GNB)
Christ clearly instructs us to enter the narrow gate for it leads to salvation and eternal life.
Aren’t salvation and eternal life for our supreme good? Isn’t such a promise a manifestation of God’s and Christ’s love for us? So, let us love Them in return by obeying the command that comes with such a great promise.
Meaningful and happy life
The gate or door to salvation is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself:
“I am the door; anyone who comes into the fold through me will be safe …” (John 10:9 Revised English Bible)
Entering through Christ, however, is not merely by accepting Him as Lord and Savior. Those who have entered Christ are found in the fold or flock, which is the Church Of Christ:
“Take heed therefore to yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, to feed the church of Christ which he has purchased with his blood.” (Acts 20:28 Lamsa Translation)
Thus, to join the Church Of Christ is to prove one’s love for God. In this true Church we should continue obeying Him so that our life will be meaningful and happy, filled with His blessings:
“Happy are those whose lives are faultless, who live according to the law of the Lord. Happy are those who follow his commands, who obey him with all their heart.” (Ps. 119:1-2 GNB)
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