Articles
Daily Love for God
At least for a little bit, does your heart long for God each day? In Revelations 3:15 God tells the Laodicean church, “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” The Laodiceans failed to realize that physical provisions are nothing in comparison to the eternal sustenance that God provides. They also were acting on the commands of the Lord, but they were doing so with a listless attitude.
Hosea 6:6 reads, “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” While it would be correct to say that children of God show their love for Him by acting on His commands, it is also true that those actions mean nothing unless they are done with a righteous motivation. The apostle Paul explained righteous motivation in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 when he wrote, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” In the next few verses of 1 Corinthians 13, Paul describes the properties of the righteous love we should be striving toward as Christians.[i]
God’s only son and perfect child, Jesus Christ, exemplified God’s righteous love to the point of death. Ephesians 5:1-2 states, “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Jesus dedicated His existence to glorifying, teaching, and obeying God. He tells us to do the same in the two greatest commands: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength… Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:30-31)
In John 15:1-11, Jesus tells us that His love is the same as God’s because they are one. God’s children should be making Him a part of their daily lives if they are to abide in His love by truly obeying His commands with their entire being. (Romans 12:1-2) The goal of bringing glory to God is not something to be rushed. To truly love yourself or another being takes time. For love is grown and compounded in the daily selfless actions, more so than dramatically grandiose gestures.
[i] 1 Cor. 13:4-7, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
