Grow in Love for God

DWhat does a love for God mean?

Matthew 22:37–40 KJV 1900

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Love for the story God loves

The Bible tells us about a story of creation of a people in the image of God with a free will ,placed in a perfect place called the garden of Eden, with a tree that produced a forbidden fruit. This story of a perfect world with a perfect people was shattered by the temptation of a snake and the sin of a man who gave into that temptation by partaking of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This sin led to the degrading of the world as sin passed from Adam to all of his descendents condemning all men to eternal condemnation.

As Holy as God is and as much as he hates sin and wickedness he looked down upon the human race that he had created with love, grace, and mercy. He enacted his plan to redeem mankind that he had formulated before the foundations of the world. He called upon a man named Abraham to leave his family and his home filled with idolatry to journey to an unknown land to worship the one and only living God.

Through the seed of Abraham came a people, God’s people. Through this people he would give the law that would reveal the sinful state of every person and highlight their need for a perfect Savior. With that need in mind he used prophets, priests, and kings to help his people believe and follow him. This story culminated with God sending his only begotten son to this sin stricken world to be sacrificed upon the cross so that his perfect blood could cleanse the sin of every human being that would place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who gave himself so they could be forgiven from sin, adopted into the family of God, saved from the condemnation of their sin and given a home in heaven for all eternity.

Loving God means loving this story, believing this story, and trusting the person of this story.

Love for the things God loves

Love His Commands

Deuteronomy 7:9 KJV 1900

Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

John 14:15 KJV 1900

If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Love for Righteousness

Psalm 11:7 KJV 1900

For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness; His countenance doth behold the upright.

Psalm 33:5 KJV 1900

He loveth righteousness and judgment: The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

Love for Justice

Psalm 37:28 KJV 1900

For the Lord loveth judgment, And forsaketh not his saints; They are preserved for ever: But the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.

Love for the people God loves

God Loves All People

John 3:16 KJV 1900

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Romans 5:8 KJV 1900

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

If you love God then you will love people like he loves people. You will offer grace, mercy, forgiveness, guidance, and compassion for every person.

God Loves those that Love Him

Proverbs 8:17 KJV 1900

I love them that love me; And those that seek me early shall find me.

If you love God then you will love those that love him. Of course, loving everyone includes God’s people, but there is a special love that God has for those that love him. If we are to love God then we should love the people that love God.