I love Valentines Day. Last year I spent the 14 days from February 1st through the 14th creating special tag cards to hide in plain view – one a day – for my husband to find. I wanted him to know how much I love him. This year, I have been drawn to ponder what it means to love God … to really love him. It’s easy to say I love him, but how do I really show him I love him? I have been spending time in the Bible to discover what God’s “love language” is to show him how much I love him.
- 1 John 4:19 says, “We love because he first loved us.” It’s hard to love someone I don’t know. How do I get to know God intimately? Knowing him involves reading all about him and how he loves me. It’s about talking to him on a regular basis and listening to his Holy Spirit’s response to me.
- If I love someone, I sing their praises – telling everyone I know about how wonderful they are. Worshipping God and praising him (Psalm 8, 19 & 24) … and singing his praises to others glorifies him, telling him of my love.
- Loving God means putting him FIRST. How often do I seek to put God and what he wants for me above what I want out of life? Psalm 37:4 says, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” To delight in him involves asking him what he wants and learning what pleases him.
- When someone you love is separated from you … even for a little while, how often do you think about him or her? David longed for God in Psalm 42:1: “As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.” How often do I long for God and yearn to be in his presence?
- Lastly, loving God is doing what he asks of me – not out of fear or duty – but because “I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8). Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15).
I am taking my time focusing on all these ways and more to show my love to God who loves me so much more than I can even begin to imagine. – Judi Brandow, Communications Specialist
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