Loving God

16 God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4 NIV

Dear Lord, I write this entry because I realize that I have been focused on how You can love me. While You loved me first, and thank You so much for that, I would like to know how I can show You I love You in return. I dedicate this to You as You teach me how You can be loved by me. In Jesus name amen.

The scripture that first comes to mind is when Jesus says,"If you love me, obey my commandments" (John 14:15-31 NLT). When I first read the scripture, I thought like a child who knows how much their parents wish to be obeyed. While it may be a child-parent relationship, I also saw the love that comes through the obedience of God's commands. The 10 commandments are laws created that help bring nothing but GOOD for us and those around us. By obeying the Lord we are directly loving Him and others.

The greatest commandments according to Jesus is to love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength, and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself. So, if we summed the already short commands: It’s to love God, love your neighbor, and love you. In the super short cliff notes: We need to love, love, love.

*See also Love God, Love People by Danny Gokey ;)

What does love look like? I didn't have to go very far because God pointed out to me that He is love (1 John 4:16). Using this sweet revelation of God I went to 1 Corinthians 13.

I wrote out in my journal replacing “love” with “God”. It looked like this:

[God] is patient, [God] is kind. [God] does not envy, [God] does not boast, [God] is not proud [boastful]. 5 [God] does not dishonor others, [God] is not self-seeking, [God] is not easily angered, [God] keeps no record of wrongs. 6 [God] does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 [God] always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 [God] never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Brackets are my changes.

Oh! How I am pricked in that I do not fully understand the love of God! I am confounded by His love that “is not easily angered.” Often in my heart, I have assumed God to be quickly annoyed with me, when God is love and therefore “slow to anger” (Exodus 34:6; Numbers 14:18).

So, when we take on the attributes of love we are becoming more like God.

To love God, we become more like Him, loving others. Ack... how simple, how hard, how beautiful.

Dear Lord, I’m almost scared to ask for such a sacrificial love as Yours, help me to love more like You. You, who are patient, kind, looking out for others and honoring them, being quick to forgive and slow to anger, delighting in the truth and believing, hoping for others. I Lord, will fail. I cannot fulfill 1 Corinthians 13 like I foolishly thought I could, but You have Lord. You never fail. Lord fill me with Your love so that I will be a little more like You each day. I love You. In Jesus’ name amen.

with joy,

MJ