Loving God

How do you know when you are in love? What are people in love doing?

They get the warm fuzzies. They are thinking about them 24/7.

Now, how do you know you love God? At this point thinking about loving God purely on an emotional level is not helpful. I have been a Christ-follower for more than 40 years and I can’t think of a single time where I thought about God and got the warm fuzzies.

Earlier on, as a young Christian, I had encounters with God where God’s presence was so imminent that it was undeniable. These encounters normally occurred in the context of intense worship or prayer. And because I thought that this feeling was what loving God was, I tried desperately to recreate the environment for such encounters. Christians call this a spiritual high.

When I couldn’t feel God’s presence I would try harder. I would pray harder. I would worship harder. And when the highs would not come, I would think there was something wrong with me. I would fast, I would pray harder and worship harder. I was desperate to feel God’s presence. And when I couldn’t get the same feeling, I would feel like there was something wrong with me.

I was a spiritual junkie – seeking one spiritual high after another.

This is NOT what it means to love God. This is unhealthy. This is not biblical.

So then, what does loving God look like?

Listen to what Jesus tells us, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14: 15).

What does loving God look like? It looks exactly like obedience! It has nothing to do with feelings. It has everything to do with subjecting our wills and wants to what God desires.

And you know what loving God people who are obeying are doing? Look at what Jesus tells us, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

Jesus was asked, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest? Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all you mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets’” (Matthew 22:36-40).

What does a person who loves God look like? What are they doing? They obey God’s commands and they love God’s people.

Now, that’s a great way to live! I bet God could change the world with a church like that!!!