What does it mean to love God ??
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What does it mean to love God ??
Wanderer Fri 09 May 2008, 7:58 am
What Does it Mean to Love God?
Dr. Creflo A. Dollar
If you were to ask someone if they loved God, they'd almost automatically reply, "Of course. I love the Lord with all my heart." Every day in churches and all around the world, people say, "Lord, I love you. Oh, Jesus, I love you." However, loving God is not just a religious quote you say to make people think you love God.
In order to love God, you must first renew your mind where love is concerned. When many people think of love, they think of human, emotional love, which is basically selfish because it has conditions—it loves when the conditions are right, or when it feels like loving. This is the type of love many people try to love God with; however, God is not interested in you loving Him with your feelings.
Contrary to what most people think, love is not a feeling. Your feelings, like your emotions, can be unstable. For example, as soon as somebody dies that you didn't think should have died, your feelings toward God might change. This is why love is a choice—it's a decision demonstrated by action. Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15). To love God means to choose to obey His Word, trust His power, and worship Him. It is impossible to say you love God if these things are not in place.
Your love for God is demonstrated by the decisions you make. When you choose what you want or desire over God's Word, you demonstrate that you love yourself more than God. So one of the first things you must do to love God is get rid of self, or your own desires. Doing this will help you love God, and others, the way you have been commanded in Matthew 22:34—40.
When you put self first, everything you do will be to please yourself, because that's what human, selfish love does—it seeks to satisfy self first. However, according to Romans 5:5, the Holy Spirit has poured the love of God in our hearts; and that love gives us the ability to love with the God—kind of love, or agapé love. Agapé love is unconditional, unselfish love. Unlike selfish, human love, agapé love puts the needs of others above its own needs. This is the love God wants us to demonstrate.
To love God means to lose self. Everyday you have to make a decision to demonstrate the agape love of God by dying to the selfish desires that try to rule your life. Second Corinthians 4:11 in The Amplified Bible says, "For we who live are constantly [experiencing] being handed over to death for Jesus' sake, that the [resurrection] life of Jesus also may be evidenced through our flesh which is liable to death." That means in order for the love of God to be evident in your life, you have to make a quality decision to allow your thoughts, desires, emotions, and feelings to die daily. It's impossible to love God, or others, when you have plans, purposes, and desires that are contrary to the Word of God.
When self is the most important thing to you, you will choose self over God's Word. God's Word is His will; get to the point where you choose the will of God above everything. You must desire His will, even above your own happiness. That's what it means to love God—to obey His will, not your own.
Dr. Creflo A. Dollar
If you were to ask someone if they loved God, they'd almost automatically reply, "Of course. I love the Lord with all my heart." Every day in churches and all around the world, people say, "Lord, I love you. Oh, Jesus, I love you." However, loving God is not just a religious quote you say to make people think you love God.
In order to love God, you must first renew your mind where love is concerned. When many people think of love, they think of human, emotional love, which is basically selfish because it has conditions—it loves when the conditions are right, or when it feels like loving. This is the type of love many people try to love God with; however, God is not interested in you loving Him with your feelings.
Contrary to what most people think, love is not a feeling. Your feelings, like your emotions, can be unstable. For example, as soon as somebody dies that you didn't think should have died, your feelings toward God might change. This is why love is a choice—it's a decision demonstrated by action. Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15). To love God means to choose to obey His Word, trust His power, and worship Him. It is impossible to say you love God if these things are not in place.
Your love for God is demonstrated by the decisions you make. When you choose what you want or desire over God's Word, you demonstrate that you love yourself more than God. So one of the first things you must do to love God is get rid of self, or your own desires. Doing this will help you love God, and others, the way you have been commanded in Matthew 22:34—40.
When you put self first, everything you do will be to please yourself, because that's what human, selfish love does—it seeks to satisfy self first. However, according to Romans 5:5, the Holy Spirit has poured the love of God in our hearts; and that love gives us the ability to love with the God—kind of love, or agapé love. Agapé love is unconditional, unselfish love. Unlike selfish, human love, agapé love puts the needs of others above its own needs. This is the love God wants us to demonstrate.
To love God means to lose self. Everyday you have to make a decision to demonstrate the agape love of God by dying to the selfish desires that try to rule your life. Second Corinthians 4:11 in The Amplified Bible says, "For we who live are constantly [experiencing] being handed over to death for Jesus' sake, that the [resurrection] life of Jesus also may be evidenced through our flesh which is liable to death." That means in order for the love of God to be evident in your life, you have to make a quality decision to allow your thoughts, desires, emotions, and feelings to die daily. It's impossible to love God, or others, when you have plans, purposes, and desires that are contrary to the Word of God.
When self is the most important thing to you, you will choose self over God's Word. God's Word is His will; get to the point where you choose the will of God above everything. You must desire His will, even above your own happiness. That's what it means to love God—to obey His will, not your own.
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Re: What does it mean to love God ??
tom2 Sun 11 May 2008, 4:17 am
love is not a feeling is a decision.god loves us and we surely by our actions towards him have no merit of his love.I have 3 grown daughters m and 8 grandchildren,i have told them many times I wasn,t happy with their actions,or decisions. but even when I disciplined my girls I always followed with though iam disappointed I will always love you.love is not giving up on people because they make mistakes.love is hating sin ,not the sinner.love is serving.love is always being unselfish.yes the world thinks completely wrong about love.thats why the divorce rate is nearly 50 percent,even in the church.iam sorry to say that the world loves the flesh. we as believers are called to a higher standard.that of having the nature of christ,where love has no strings attached to it.
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Re: What does it mean to love God ??
Waqar Daniel Sun 11 May 2008, 4:42 pm
Thank you for such a wonderful article and I nearly missed it. I loved the way Human Love is explained in contrast to God's love. There is a beautiful verse in the Proverbs that shows God's love
God bless you and your family
However, Heavenly Father's love has one condition, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son, so that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)"Rich and poor have this is in
common: The LORD is the maker of them all. (Proverbs 22:2)
God bless you and your family
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Re: What does it mean to love God ??
saved Sun 11 May 2008, 10:29 pm
Thank you for such a faith-inspiring article.
In Christ
In Christ
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Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) wrote powerfully about the need for an intimate relationship with Almighty God, including this: “He who has a pure heart will never cease to pray; and he who will be constant in prayer, shall know what it is to have a pure heart.”
