The more you get to know God, the more you will love Him. And the more you love Him, the more you will want to obey Him.
God is the initiator in this love relationship. The apostle John reveals, “We love because he loved us first” (1 John 4:19). The more we realize how great God’s love is for us, the more we will respond by loving Him.
Paul wrote to the Ephesians,
“that Christ will dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love, 18 you will be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you will be filled up to all the fullness of God.” – Ephesians 3:17-19
Do you have any idea of how much God loves you?
Consider the following acts of God’s love for you. . .
He died for us
“But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8
He forgives our sins
“Surely, for my welfare I had such great anguish; but Your love has delivered me from the pit of oblivion, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.” – Isaiah 38:17, BSB
He does not condemn us
“He does not always accuse, and does not stay angry. He does not deal with us as our sins deserve; he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve.” – Psalm 103:9,10
He is gracious to us
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even though we were dead in offenses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you are saved!” – Ephesians 2:4,5
He adopted us
“See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called God’s children—and indeed we are! For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know him.” – 1 John 3:1
He gives us His attention
“What is mankind that you make so much of them, and that you pay attention to them?” – Job 7:17
He gives us good gifts
“All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change.” – James 1:17
He is faithful to us
“If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, since he cannot deny himself.” – 2 Timothy 2:13
He will always love us
“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8:38,39
As the Holy Spirit helps us to understand the breadth and depth of God’s love for us, we respond with love for God.
There are several ways in which we demonstrate our love for God…
We love Him wholeheartedly
“Jesus said to him, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’” – Matthew 22:37
We love Him most
“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” – Matthew 10:37
We obey Him
“The person who has my commandments and obeys them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to him.” – John 14:21
We love others
“The person who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” – 1 John 4:8
We sacrifice for one another
“But whoever has the world’s possessions and sees his fellow Christian in need and shuts off his compassion against him, how can the love of God reside in such a person?” – 1 John 3:17
We serve Him
“because we recall in the presence of our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” – 1 Thessalonians 1:3
We thank Him
“Give thanks to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. For the Lord is good and his unfailing love lasts forever.” – Jeremiah 33:11
We glorify Him
“Because experiencing your loyal love is better than life itself, my lips will praise you.” – Psalm 63:3
We stay in God’s love
“Maintain yourselves in the love of God, while anticipating the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life.” – Jude 1:21
As you cultivate your love relationship with God, ask the Holy Spirit to make you evermore mindful of how much God loves you. And, as a result, expect the Holy Spirit to continually increase your love for God.
“And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” – Romans 5:5