"One of the biggest and least addressed obstacles to truly loving God is thinking I already do when, truth be told, I really don't."
O.U.C.H.
I have heard 1 John 4:19 all my life but now it means something completely new.
"We love because He first loved us."
We have done nothing close to deserving or earning this love, yet He has, is, and will always love us.
Beth Moore says, rather than singing or saying, "God, I love you." We should instinctively say, "I love you too." He has, is and will always say it first. How do we know this? His word proclaims it over and over. Not only that, but he demonstrated it with the sacrifice of His son. How dare we doubt His love!
We know He loves us, but do we really love him?
We can say we do all day long and we can even serve Him, but do we really love Him? She gave a great analogy. She said think about the people that you really love. How do you know you love them? Most of us can list off many reasons. She used her grandson as an example and explained why she loves him so much. We can easily identify this love in other areas of our life, but how come we fall so short when talking about our love for God?
Some of you may even be thinking, you're right I don't really love God. There have been times in my life where I have gone through phases of apathy. Not caring if I didn't pray or spend time in His word. We know the Christian life isn't all about mountain top experiences. So how do we get back to truly loving and desiring God?
We must pursue it diligently through prayer. Literally, proclaiming, "God give me a love for you!"
Others of you may say, well, I think I love God or yes, I know I do. Here's a test:
Beth Moore says, rather than singing or saying, "God, I love you." We should instinctively say, "I love you too." He has, is and will always say it first. How do we know this? His word proclaims it over and over. Not only that, but he demonstrated it with the sacrifice of His son. How dare we doubt His love!
We know He loves us, but do we really love him?
We can say we do all day long and we can even serve Him, but do we really love Him? She gave a great analogy. She said think about the people that you really love. How do you know you love them? Most of us can list off many reasons. She used her grandson as an example and explained why she loves him so much. We can easily identify this love in other areas of our life, but how come we fall so short when talking about our love for God?
Some of you may even be thinking, you're right I don't really love God. There have been times in my life where I have gone through phases of apathy. Not caring if I didn't pray or spend time in His word. We know the Christian life isn't all about mountain top experiences. So how do we get back to truly loving and desiring God?
We must pursue it diligently through prayer. Literally, proclaiming, "God give me a love for you!"
Others of you may say, well, I think I love God or yes, I know I do. Here's a test:
1. Does God regularly circulate into my thoughts?
2. Am I often drawn to spend time with Him?
3. Does my life demonstrate a love for God?
4. Do I often enjoy God?
5. Do I ultimately find relief or satisfaction in obedience?
2. Am I often drawn to spend time with Him?
3. Does my life demonstrate a love for God?
4. Do I often enjoy God?
5. Do I ultimately find relief or satisfaction in obedience?
"To love God in the way defined by the great commandment is to seek God for his own sake, to have pleasure in him and to strive impulsively after him."
OUCH is right!
ReplyDeleteI think verse 20 can be the hardest.
ReplyDeleteIf a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen.
I struggle on a regular basis with loving my "brother". Too bad we can't live in a world where we all lived and loved as God.