Learning To Love God

For several weeks, Pastor Greg’s been teaching us about love; not just love for ourselves and others, but more importantly – God. This is for good reason. Everything that we, as Christians, are to do must stem from love. Your greatest accomplishments mean nothing if they were achieved without love.

What we’ve determined, for certain, is that we are to love God with everything that we are and in everything we do. [♫Musical Inspiration: Click here for the video of a new song by Steven Curtis Chapman titled, Do Everything♫] When we truly love God, loving others happens automatically; without much thought. We show God that we love Him by keeping His commandments. He requires that we love Him and love others. It’s that simple! He didn’t suggest that we love others, or ask us to love others. He COMMANDS us to love others.

As Pastor Greg was teaching, he presented a very significant contrast that appears in many Christian lives: Realistic vs. Ritualistic. Think about the things you do in your everyday life. How many of those things occur out of habit? They are rituals. How many of those things occur because you have a genuine concern and understanding of why they must be done? These are realistic things. They mean something to you. They mean something to someone else. They serve a purpose that’s bigger than any one individual. They bring you a sense of worth and accomplishment. They make you feel alive.

Now, think about the things you do in ministry, and consider the revelation this young woman had while attending a conference in which the speaker charged the participants to pray for an insatiable (impossible to satisfy) love for God:

I was very fortunate to come across this article on the very morning I would be sitting down to write about loving God. How much proof do we need that God is trying to tell us what He needs from us? How many of us are doing ministry for ritual’s sake, instead of doing ministry out of realistic love for God? Father, I pray that you help us to become true lovers of You. Give us insatiable love for You. Give us realistic love for You.