Life Ministries

How to Love God
Matthew 22:37-39 and Matthew 28:19-20

    Love is not just a feeling, it must be demonstrated. The words in the Great Commandment express “how” and “how much” we are to love God… with “ALL” our heart, mind, soul and strength.  In both the Greek and Hebrew language, these words were all-encompassing terms. The ‘heart’ was used to refer to one’s emotions, thoughts, will, intentions, desires, courage and so on. Loving God with all our heart doesn’t mean simply that we “feel” something…it means that we demonstrate our love for him in and through all these ways.  “Do you love me?” means much more than just a strong feeling!

    This was the message Jesus was trying to get across to Peter on the shores of the sea that morning when he asked; “Peter, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” “Then demonstrate it by feeding my sheep.” 
There are 4 ways that we can truly demonstrate our love for God:
    We love God with our worship. “God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” When we worship God, it should be a genuine, grateful expression of our love;”we love because he first loved us.” We ought to come to church prepared to worship; prepared to show or demonstrate our love for God. It goes beyond going through the motions of an order of worship. Sometimes we fall short in our worship. It may be because of circumstances, but it is always the fault of the worshipper. We bring the wrong attitudes; the wrong expectations; or maybe no expectations at all. We know we love God, but not even an all knowing, all seeing God would be able to tell it by our actions!  We sit - in all our prosperity and blessing - with our hands folded - and sing (O-how I love Jesus…) like we are doing him a favor by being there!  If we are embarrassed to demonstrate our love for God, is it any wonder why he would say; “These people draw near to me with their mouths and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me”?
    We love God with our walk. It is through our lifestyle that we demonstrate our love. From the very beginning God tied the idea of obedience to “loving him with all our hearts.”  In Deuteronomy 6 where that Command was originally given, it was followed by an instruction to the people; “Do not test God as you did at Massah”... Now, Massah was the place where the Israelites were some time after leaving Egypt, and, it was there that they complained; “We’re hungry; we’re tired; we’re thirsty…We were better off in Egypt!” They tested God. At its heart, whenever we deliberately ignore what we know full well to be true or to be the will of God; when we deliberately turn our eyes and ears away from ethical, moral, righteous behavior; and think “It would have been more fun to live in the world or, to do the things I used to do” we are testing God. Can you imagine where a marriage would be headed if that’s the way your spouse felt?  It is through our lifestyle that we demonstrate our love for God.  Jesus summed it up this way; “If you love me, you will obey my commands” (John 14:15)
    We love God with our words. The words we speak have a defining effect on our thoughts and our attitudes. It is well known and documented that the words we speak have an effect - positive or negative - on others. But, our words also affect us in the same way. Read once again, Deuteronomy 5:32- 6:9….What is the effect of all this?….
    It’s a genuine demonstration of our love for God if we treasure His Word, His Commands so much that they become a natural part of our speech. We teach them to our children. We witness as to what they have done in our lives. We “write them on the doorframes” by using wall hangings in our homes that express the fact that we love God to all who enter.
    We love God with our wants and wishes. What is it that you wish for today?  What is the upper-most desire that directs your thoughts and your actions?  In the 1960’s, researchers at Stanford University ran what they called the “marshmallow test” to measure what long term effects were dependent on a person’s decision whether or not to discipline wants and desires. Four year old children were placed in a room with a researcher, and a marshmallow was placed on the table. The researcher would say; “I’m going to leave the room, but I’ll be back in a couple of minutes. You can eat this marshmallow if you want it…but, if you wait till I get back, you can have two marshmal-lows.”  Other similar tests were done, and the kids were grouped into those who were willing to discipline their wants and those who weren’t.  The results were recorded and these children were followed through high school. On an average, those who could not discipline their desires scored some 200 points lower on standard aptitude tests and in general led much more troubled adolescent years.
    Disciplining our wants and desires makes a difference. As we grow older, we understand the difference, especially financially.
    Romans 12:2 says; “Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  If we conform to the world, our wants and desires will be defined by the world. But, if we allow God to transform our thinking, it transforms the way we feel, which changes the way we act…and demonstrates our love for Him.
    God does not expect us to come into his presence with perfect worship, or a perfect walk, or to be perfect in speech or in our desires… But, he does expect us to grow in all these things.  The beauty of the Gospel is that God demonstrated his love for us…and he just desires that we love him back…with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. This includes our worship; our walk; our words; and our wants and wishes.