“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.”
1 Corinthians 2:9
This month many Americans have been thinking about how best to show their love for the people who are in their lives. It is an annual Valentines Day tradition here in the United States. These people are boyfriends or girlfriends, spouses, children, parents, relatives, and close or lifelong friends. We shop for the perfect greeting card, the perfect gift, and the perfect words to express our love for them. We also want it to be memorable and special so that they know we truly love them!
But there is also someone else that we often forget to include in this expression of love. For Christians, we also need to include God & Jesus among those we love and cherish in our lives. While we believe in God and confess our faith in Jesus, do we also express our love for them? What words of love do we speak to the One who gave us life and the One who gave his life for us? And what gifts do we give them to show them how much we love them?
So, let’s explore this love a little bit and then consider some ways that we can faithfully and genuinely express our love to both God and Jesus.
To begin with, we must acknowledge that it was God who loved us first. He created us in His image out of His love for us (Genesis 1:27). The apostle John said it more clearly in 1 John 4:19 when he wrote, “We love, because He (God) first loved us.” We humans had been separated from God since the Fall of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3. But God loved us so much that He sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to die for our sins so that we might be reconciled to God and have everlasting life with Him (John 3:16). Paul wrote in Romans 5:8, “God demonstrated His own love for us in this: While we were yet still sinners, Christ died for us.” Without God and Jesus, we stand condemned to eternal death. It was His love that gave us life and His Love that saved it!
Second, there is no love without God. God is love (1 John 4:16), so without Him there can be no love. God’s love is unconditional. As Christians. when we love others, it is God’s love flowing through us, not our own love. Sure, there is a worldly love that people have for other people. But if that love does not come from God, then it is either a romantic love or a conditional love. When our love is based only on our feelings for another person or on a condition of reciprocity, then relationships and marriages typically fall apart. When God and His love is at the center of a relationship, it becomes a “chord of 3 strands that is not quickly broken”! (Ecclesiastes 4:12)
Thirdly, our first priority is to love God. We must love God above all others (Exodus 20:3). Our love for God must take priority over every other person or thing. When Jesus was asked by the Pharisees which was the greatest commandment, He said we should “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37) If we love others in this world more than God, then we are not acknowledging God’s love for us first. We are in effect taking His grace for granted and not reciprocating His love for us!
So, what are some ways that we can show our love for God and His priority in our lives? Here are four ways that we can express our love for God in meaningful and practical ways.
First, we can express our love for God through worship. Worshiping God is simply showing Him that we love Him above all others. We do this in church worship by singing songs of praise and adoration, speaking prayers of gratitude and faithfulness, acknowledging His Truth and Love for us through Scripture readings, and declaring our faith in Jesus through the Apostle’s creed or other statements of our beliefs.
Second, we can express our love by speaking His Truth in our world and sharing the gospel. The Old Testament declares that “All your words are true, all your glorious laws are eternal.” (Psalm 119:160) In other words, God’s Word is Truth. And Zechariah 8:16 says, “These are the things you are to do; speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgement in your courts.” In the New Testament Jesus tells us that we are to be His witnesses (Acts 1:8). Jesus also gave us the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19 to “go and make disciples all nations.” When we speak the truth and share the good news, we are demonstrating our love for God and the people He created!
Third, we can express our love by being obedient to God’s Word. Our obedience to someone is a sign of our love for that person. We are obedient to our parents because we love and trust them. Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” When we disobey His commands, we sin. Thankfully, Jesus came to forgive our sins and when we repent, He will “cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9). Our obedience to God and what Jesus taught and commanded then is a way that we express our love for Him!
Fourth, we can express our love by loving others as God loved us. God sent His love to us through Jesus, and as part of the triune God, Jesus is also Love. He came into our world to also show us how to love others the way that God loves us. Jesus taught us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44), to love one another (John 13:34), to serve God only (Matthew 4:10), and to serve others (Matthew 20:26). When we love and serve others the way that God loves and serves us, we are showing our love for Him!
God’s love for us is meant to be reciprocal and not just one-way. He desperately wants us to love Him as much as He loves us. Most of us have probably experienced what’s known as unrequited love, meaning that our love for another is not returned or reciprocated. It’s very painful. Can you imagine how God feels when His love for us is not reciprocated?
For the love of God, let us express our love for him daily and without hesitation!