Do We Really Love God?

Jesus made it clear that “the first and great commandment” is “…Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matt. 22:37-38). There is no way that we can be pleasing to God if we do not love Him more than anything else.
Consider the following words from Jesus: “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matt. 10:37). Many believe that love of family should be primary in our lives, but not according to Jesus. Now, He did not say that we should cease loving our families. He simply emphasized the truth that our families should not be our first and main priority. God should be!
I will be blunt in stating that most individuals will fall well short of this requirement. In fact, mankind has degraded so much over time that far less important things than family have been put ahead of God. How many people are there that put their career/jobs before God? Time after time, individuals make the choice to work for more money instead of putting God before anything else. Also, what about the multitudes that place recreation and entertainment before God? This unfortunately is used in teaching our young folks the error of putting sports, school and a host of other things before God. For our own souls, we must make sure that our love is directed appropriately.

That brings us to another very important discussion. How can I demonstrate that I love God more than everything else? While addressing His apostles, Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Such simplicity, yet such a challenge! To exercise my love for God, I must obey His Word. For those alive today, we live under the Law of Christ/the New Testament. Therefore if I am going to be a person that really loves God, I must learn the Law of Christ and faithfully obey It. It is simple because, as John wrote, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous” (1 John 5:2-3). It is a challenge because we will be tempted by the things of this world. John also wrote, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:15-17). Where will our love be placed?

To further illustrate what type of love we should have for God, let us examine the following: “Greater love hath no man that this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 15:13-14). Did we catch that? If we really love God the way that we should, we should be willing to die for Him. How do we come away with that understanding? Did not Jesus do the same in His example of love for the Father? Jesus also said, “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love” (John 15:10). Jesus loved His Father so much that He died on the cross to fulfill God’s will (John 19:30). We must likewise love God so much that we are willing to die to stay faithful to Him. When addressing the church in Smyrna, the Lord said, “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life” (Rev. 2:10). If it literally takes us dying to remain faithful in order to show our love to God, then we should do it. After all, this physical life should not cause us to ignore the fact that spiritual life in Heaven will be far greater!
So, do we really love God? Are we willing to put Him before anything else? Can we echo the sentiments of Paul from long ago? “Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am not to be bound only, be also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 21:13). That my friend is loving “…God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matt. 22:37

~ Corey Barnette