Thoughts on Loving the Lord
Matthew 22:37-38, “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.”
This verse couplet makes strikingly clear how much importance and weight the act of loving God ought to have for every human being. I will first discuss the two most substantial reasons why Man ought to love God. Secondly, I will discuss how Man ought to love God. Finally, I will show why every Christian, by definition, does love God.
Why Man Ought to Love God
First, Man ought to love God because He is his Maker and Creator.
Revelation 1:8 says, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”
This verse from the last book of the Bible describes God as the ultimate Being, the One who is the Source of all things. Because Man derives his entire being from Him, Man therefore ought to love the Lord as his Creator.
Second, Man ought to love God as his Savior. Although originally created by Him to be wholly good, Man chose a life of sin and consequently by his actions brought eternal damnation on himself.
John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Psalm 116:1 reads, “I love the LORD, because He hath heard my voice and my supplications.”
Jesus Christ paid the ultimate penalty, death on the Cross, for the sins of mankind. Therefore, Man ought to love the Lord as his Savior.
How Man Ought to Love God
But what does it mean to truly love the Lord? Southern Baptist pastor Voddie Baucham gives his definition of “love” as the following, “Love is an act of the will, accompanied by emotion, that leads to action on behalf of its object.” The actions all Christians should be making on behalf of the object of their love, that is, the Lord, are succinctly summarized in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.
This passage reads, “Charity (love) suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth.”
In essence, this is the life God calls all Christians to lead and, by so doing, fulfill the greatest commandment to love the Lord with all their heart, soul, and mind. (Matt. 22:37)
Why Every Christian Does Love God
1 John 4:19 says, “We love Him, because He first loved us.”
This verse acknowledges the preeminence of God in all things. Man in himself has no power to love. Only by God’s grace and the work of the Holy Spirit can Man love the One to whom he owes life itself. Thus, it is God who gives the gift of love to everyone whom He moves to call out upon His name.
