God's Love Language

God’s Love Language Christlike Affections in 2025 • The first Sunday of every month in ’25, we are asking God to heighten our religious affections. • Definition of Affection: Deep and lasting transformation of the soul that results in the zealous pursuit of God, overflowing love for God’s people, and joyful service in God. • Last month, we discovered “the Desire to Know.” Today we are going to explore the greatest command and most thoroughgoing affection, “Love the LORD your God.” Love and Obedience • The overwhelming biblical association with the love of God in the Bible is the word obedience (14 of 17 direct commands to love God are explained by obedience). • 7 Love/Obey pairs in Deuteronomy • “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart” (Deuteronomy 6:5-6). • “You shall therefore love the LORD your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always (Deuteronomy 11:1). Love and Obedience • “If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, by keeping his commandments …” (Deuteronomy 30:16). • “Be very careful, therefore, to love the LORD your God. For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages among them …” (Joshua 23:11-12). • “And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath …” (Isaiah 56:6) Love and Obedience • “If you love me, you will keep my commandments…. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me” (John 14: 15-21). • “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love” (John 15:10). • “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments” (1 John 5:3). • “And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments” (2 John 1:6). Love and Morality • “O you who love the LORD, hate evil!” (Psalm 97:10) • “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil. Hold fast to what is good” (Romans 12:9). • “Do not love the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). Challenges 1. Democracy – kings demanding obedience sounds tyrannical to our democratic ears; we associate obedience with authority and love with people/things we value. 2. Legalism – “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:8-9) 3. Definition – We are heavily influenced by Romanticism, where love is primarily emotional, euphoric, and expressive. The Bible was written in previous millennia where love was a choice expressed by commitment and sacrifice. Answering the Challenges 1. Remember our Place – God is not our equal, but our Creator and King (1 Timothy 1:17). 2. Remember God’s Intentions – His commands promote our earthly best and ultimate joy (Deuteronomy 6:3-5; John 15:11) 3. Remember Christ’s Sacrifice – Our love is a response to God’s immense love and sacrifice (1 John 4:10) 4. Remember the Bible’s Thorough Command – God commands love from every part of us (Deuteronomy 6:5) Cultivating Obedient Love • • • • Obedient love models God’s settled choice to love us – “In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons” (Ephesians 1:4b-5) Obedient love remembers the chief problem separating us from God – “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Obedient love demonstrates that we value what God values – “share in suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:5) Obedient love is exclusive – “No one can serve two masters … You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24)