How does God want us to love Him?
A popular question in recent years has been “What is your love language?” This concept categorises how we express or receive love from others. While fun for describing interpersonal relationships, have we ever considered: what is our love language toward God, and how does He want us to show our love?
Think of your relationship with God as you would with a close friend. If a friend only asked for favours, you’d see the relationship as one-sided and transactional. We know God’s love for us is so wide and broad that we can’t even comprehend it (Eph 3:18-19), yet often in our prayers and in our relationship with Him, we focus on ourselves and our own requests. True love for God is not transactional; it’s about a genuine two-way connection beyond simply asking Him for things.
Something that might instantly come to mind as a form of showing love to God is through (acts of) service – whether it be attending all weekly services or fellowships, or the works we do for Him. But at times, we can use these and maintaining a spiritual front as a way to mask our weaknesses, especially when we are reluctant to change from our old ways.
So then, how does God want us to love Him? More than service, God desires obedience (1Sam 15:22). Jesus teaches that loving God means keeping His commandments (Jn 14:15), showing that real devotion is expressed through obedience rather than just activities.
God doesn’t want us to just see Him as someone who grants wishes; He wants us to fear and worship Him with all our heart and soul (Deut 10:12-13). This fear is not a feeling, but is demonstrated through walking in all His ways, not taking the truth for granted or merely dismissing it as advice, but rather doing His will without question.
However, this kind of love doesn’t just develop overnight within us. To move forward in building a close relationship with God, we must first acknowledge and remove the idols from our hearts: baring to God that we often chase after our fleshly desires over Him, and ask for His forgiveness (Col 3:5). Only then can we learn to deny ourselves, allowing God’s love to move our hearts and work within us so we can say, “not my will, but Yours.” In doing so, our sole desire in life can become seeking after God, and we can truly belong to Him and find satisfaction through the surrendering of our whole selves.
Whilst this is a long and painful process, God knows this, and shows even further love towards us by giving us His Holy Spirit, whose main function is to help us love Him more through teaching us how to obey Him (Jn 14:26, Rom 5:5). Recognising this blessing should motivate us to respond to Him with true love expressed through submissive obedience, which is the true love language God desires of us.
Reflection questions:
Does your love for God go beyond acts of service and being seen as “faithful”? Are there areas where you know what God asks of you, but you have been slow or reluctant to obey?
What idols might be competing with God in your heart that hinders you from being able to love Him fully? Have your prayers been focused on the matters of God and your relationship with Him, or have they been focused on fulfilling your own desires?
Are you submitting to the Holy Spirit as a helper and guide to help us love and obey God, or are you still leaning on your own strength and understanding?
