How To Love God

Heavenly Father,
We are so grateful that, in Jesus Christ, you broke down the barriers between us and You. Being forgiven, we can now come before your throne of grace without shame or fear. Now, we can fellowship with You, learn from You, and receive the guidance that we need for this life. We thank You for this great privilege.
At this time, we do not ask that You be with us, for we know that You are already with us; You are everywhere. And You have given us Your Holy Spirit.
We ask… that You help us to stay aware of Your Presence and nearness, that we might more fully seek Your wisdom and guidance in all that we do.
Help us to love You above all things and all people.
Help us to believe, and even to feel… that we are embraced and protected by Your ever-present love. Help us to trust your love for us far beyond what we can understand, and thereby come to love You with all heart, soul, mind, and strength… and to love each other as You love us.
We ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord,
Amen.

2. To know God is to love God.
Do all you can to get to know God through studying the scriptures, prayer (listening as well as speaking) and by talking with mature Christians about their experiences with God.

John recorded these words of Jesus: “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3) But how can we know Him unless we intentionally seek Him and spend time with Him? “You shall seek me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). He can be found, and there are immense rewards for doing so: “Delight yourself in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4).

3. Remember that Jesus said that great sinners have a spiritual advantage once they have been forgiven… they love God more.
“I tell you, her sins–and they are many–have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little, loves little.” (Luke 7:47)
For this principle to be effective, an individual must first become fully aware of their sinfulness (conviction of sin) and to be contrite, repenting and asking for forgiveness… mentally going to the cross of Christ where all sins are forgiven. There is no forgiveness without the divine sacrifice of Jesus shedding His blood, and there is no receiving of that forgiveness without repentance.

4. Finally, for our love for God to grow, we must also keep in mind what the Apostle John taught (1 John 4:19): “We love because he first loved us.”
Practically speaking, what this means is that for us to increase in our love for God, we must first fully understand, believe, and perhaps even feel how much He loves us! It means grasping the Cross… knowing what a sacrifice it was for Jesus to die so that we might gain eternal life. Jesus Himself reminded us that “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)
Many people have expressed how much help they have received from Dick Torrance’s paraphrase of Paul’s famous, poetic description of agape love in 1 Corinthians 13– reminding us that this is how God loves us I have adapted the following from it:

Because

Because God loves me, He is slow to lose patience with me.

Because God loves me, He takes the all the circumstances of my life and uses them in a constructive way for my growth.

Because God loves me, He does not treat me as an object to be possessed and manipulated.

Because God loves me, He has no need to impress me with how great He is because He is God, nor does he belittle me as His child in order to show me how important He is.

Because God loves me, He is for me and for those I love. He wants to see me (and my loved ones) mature and develop in His love.

Because God loves me, He does not send down His wrath on me for every little mistake I make–of which there are many. He does not keep score of all my sins and then beat me over the head with them whenever He gets the chance.

Because God loves me, He is deeply grieved when I do not walk in His ways because he knows that I am just hurting myself.

Because God loves me, He never says that there is no hope for me, rather, He patiently works with me, and trains me. It is hard for me to understand the depth of His concern for me.

Because God loves me, He never forsakes me, even though family and friends might.

Because God loves me, He stands with me when I have reached rock bottom, when I see the real me and compare that with His righteousness, holiness, beauty and love. In moments like this I can really believe that God loves me.

Because God loves me, He rejoices when I experience His power and strength and when I stand up under the pressures of life for His name’s sake.

Because God loves me, He keeps on working with me even when I feel like giving up and I cannot see why He doesn’t give up on me, too.

Because God loves me, He continues to work out His perfect plan in my life–even in those times when I don’t trust either God, the process, or myself. His plan WILL work itself out for my best– BECAUSE IT IS GOD’S WILL and because GOD LOVES ME MORE THAN I CAN LOVE MYSELF.

And finally, because God loves me and is eternal, His love will never end.

How to Love God

By Bruce Atkinson
www.virtueonline.org
July 22, 2024

Once upon a time… a student in my Bible study class asked me this, “We are commanded to love God with all of our heart and mind, but this seems impossible because we cannot see God or know God that well.How can I grow in my love for God?”
I had some of the following points ready at hand for this student, but after some research here is a more complete summary of the biblical answer to this question.

1. Ask.
Jesus taught His disciples to ask in prayer for whatever they truly desired: “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Luke 11:9-13, NIV)
Here is an example prayer I was given many years ago: