I have been reflecting on my relationship with God these last few days and realized a huge mistake that I have been making for quite some time. The bible says this about Love:
Matthew 22:36-40 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
However when I look more closely into my life and my actions, there is a resoundingly deep revelation. I have not truly been Loving God.
Let me explain…. When I wake up in the morning my first though is “I’m tired, let’s just hit the snooze…..” Then once I’m up I rush out the door and head to work. The rest of my day consists of me going here and there just doing what I do… But where is God in all of this?
When Jesus says that we should love God with all of our heart, soul, and strength this means we should have a constant desire to be in his presence and will for our lives. But we get busy, we get off track. We confuse loving other people with loving God by saying “I gave money to the poor, I changed this in myself, I…, I…, I…, I…”. Before we know it we use a deeds scale to measure our love for God and totally dodge him in the process. I was devastated when I realized this in my own personal life.
We have a tendency to just make decisions on a whim because it makes sense to us but where is God in our decisions? Paul lays it out perfectly in 1 Corinthians 13 and even states that if he does all types of miracles and accomplished “Feel good things” but doesn’t have love it is all worthless.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.
When we look at this scripture I think we sort of miss the mark, we think “I love others” but why do we think that this passage of scripture starts with others. What about God? Shouldn’t we be patient with God in times of impatience? Shouldn’t we have a Kind heart toward God and walk in his leading? Shouldn’t we maintain focus on God so that we do not envy others? Shouldn’t we check our hearts with God so that we don’t live in pride? The list goes on!
I think God desires us to take the focus off of ourselves and other’s for a change and begin with him. Bring our love to him daily, this means from the second we wake up to the moment we sleep. And in every decision ask ourselves “do I love God in this decision?”. I have asked this very question today and have learned that I have missed the mark in a lot of ways and have focused on deeds and accomplishments instead of focusing on loving God first. This is a scary thought but please read this passage and really think if this might be you.
Matthew 7:21-23 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
If so, Jesus can help you change. We have to ask, seek and knock. I truly believe that if we love God first, his real love will over flow us, flow through us, then will make its way into others lives. Then, We will truly help others by his leading. After all, from the beginning of time and even to this day it has been God’s desire for us to love him.
Are you misdirecting love in your life? Do you need to redirect your love to begin with God? It’s never too late to change. If you have made a choice to walk in love with Christ please take a moment to share your testimony. You do not have to be a WordPress user to leave a comment.
The Word Composed Write -> Sell = GIVE 