Love is...


Love is a major topic in February. People do all sorts of things to express their love around Valentine’s Day, such as dinners, buying flowers or chocolates, and coming up with fancy dates and cards to let someone know they love them, typically in a romantic way. We often express our love by giving people gifts or doing something nice for them, but what does the Bible say about love? More particularly, what does it say about our love for God? It’s wonderful to have a significant other, but ultimately, we must love God above all else. Deuteronomy 6:5 gives us the command to “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”

So how do we express love to our glorious God? John 14:15 puts it quite simply, “If you love Me, you will keep my commandments.” We are commanded to love God and to show that love by keeping His commandments. Seems like a tall order for a sinful people, but 1 John 5:3-4 tells us, “In fact, this is love for God: to keep His commandments. And His commands are not burdensome for everyone born of God overcomes the world.” What an amazing and loving God we have! He doesn’t simply give us a command; He also gives us what we need to obey. “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). God is the source of both our desire and ability to live a life that is pleasing to Him.

The Holy Spirit is given to us by God’s grace to help us. In Ezekiel 36:26-27, we read, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and be careful to obey My rules.”

God commands us to love Him above all else, and to show that love by obedience. Is God the greatest love in your life? Do you seek to know Him and obey Him before and above all else? When you think of the things you love, is God at the top of the list? He should be. If you ask Him, with a sincere heart, He will always give you the things He promises. Pray to Him and ask to be filled with love for Him, and to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that His commands are not “burdensome”. Let God work His love in and through you and be thankful that, as it says in 1 John 4:8, “God is love.”

Loving relationships are a beautiful gift, and our relationship with our heavenly Father should be the most important one in our lives. Remember to express your love for God, pray that He fills you with the Holy Spirit so that in love, you may walk in obedience to His commands. This is love, and “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). The greatest love of all was shown when God sent His only Son to die for us; how can we not, in thankfulness, show our love in return?

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