Loving God is a complex topic that involves elements of emotion, feeling, and decision. According to the Bible, humans have an innate desire and capacity to love and connect with God, but realizing that love requires intentionality and commitment. Let’s explore what the Bible says about the nature of loving God.
Loving God involves emotion
Our ability to love emanates from being created in the image of a relational God who expresses perfect love within the Trinity (Genesis 1:27, John 17:23-26). As emotional beings, we long for intimate connection with our Creator. When we encounter God’s goodness, we respond emotionally with awe, joy, gratitude, and affection. Scripture speaks of loving God with “all your heart” (Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 22:37). The heart represents the seat of emotions in biblical anthropology. Loving God engages our emotions.
We see this emotional component in many biblical examples. David frequently expressed raw emotion in his psalms of anguish, joy, lament, and praise directed toward God (Psalms 3-6, 13, 18, 23, 103). Peter felt great sorrow when realizing his denial of Jesus (Luke 22:54-62). Paul overflowed with gladness during sufferings because of his affection for Christ (2 Corinthians 7:4, Philippians 1:8). Right emotions emerge when we comprehend God’s love for us.
Loving God involves feeling
Loving God is more than just emotion. It’s something we feel at the core of our being. We sense God’s presence. We feel transformed by God’s grace. We feel compelled to obey God’s voice. God’s love permeates our innermost self. Biblically, the “heart” also represents the control center of our will, thoughts, and feelings. Loving God means He takes residence in our heart.
The Bible describes feeling intimate closeness with God. Asaph felt God was continually near (Psalm 73:28). Paul prayed that believers would “grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” in an experiential way (Ephesians 3:18). We grow in our love for God by encountering His overwhelming love for us. This moves our love for God from emotion into deep-felt experience.
Loving God involves decision
As conscious beings, we have a choice in how we respond to God’s overtures of love. We decide whether to reciprocate God’s love or reject it. Loving God means choosing fidelity to Him over other options that compete for our allegiance (Matthew 6:24, James 4:4). It requires arranged intention, not just capricious emotion or sentiment.
In fact, the Bible portrays loving God as obedience. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments” (1 John 5:3). We demonstrate our love for God by submitting our will to do His will. This commitment to obedience is ongoing, not a one-time decision (John 15:9-10). Genuine love for God endures through ups and downs of emotion.
How do we grow in loving God?
The Bible suggests practical ways we can strengthen our love for God. First, we focus on knowing God’s love for us more fully (1 John 4:19). The more we comprehend God’s unconditional love demonstrated in Christ, the more our capacity to love God grows (Ephesians 3:17-19). Second, we seek God through spiritual practices like prayer, fasting, worship, and Bible study. These nurture our affection for God. Third, we rearrange life priorities around loving and obeying God above all else (Luke 10:27). Fourth, we allow the Holy Spirit to cultivate His fruit of love within us (Galatians 5:22). Fifth, we join other believers who support our devotion to God (Hebrews 10:24-25). Community reinforces a lifestyle of wholehearted love for God.
What prevents us from loving God fully?
Many factors can inhibit our love for God. First, unawareness of God’s love causes us to doubt His goodness (1 John 4:10). Second, ongoing sinful patterns disrupt intimacy with God (Isaiah 59:2). Third, idolatry directs our affection toward created things rather than the Creator (Exodus 20:3-6). Fourth, busyness and distraction choke out a loving relationship with God (Luke 10:38-42). Fifth, painful circumstances tempt us to become angry or indifferent toward God. During such times, we must rely on God’s promises and the support of others (Hebrews 10:23-25).
Is it possible to force ourselves to love God?
We cannot artificially manufacture love for God. Forced devotion easily becomes empty ritual. However, as willful beings, we can put ourselves in a place where our love for God grows. We expose ourselves to God’s truth through Scripture, peer into God’s heart through prayer, and plug into a community that models deep love for God. While we can’t instantly produce love, we can till the soil of our hearts to yield greater love for God.
We also ask God to instill love within us. Augustine prayed, “Cause me to love you, Lord.” The Holy Spirit nurtures unconditional love that transcends fleeting emotions (Romans 5:5, Galatians 5:22). Of course, we must cooperatively yield to the Spirit’s work in our lives. As we take steps of obedience, speak truth to our hearts, and avail ourselves to God’s means of grace, our love flourishes.
How is loving God an appropriate response to His love?
The Bible portrays loving God as the fitting reciprocation to experiencing God’s sacrificial love for us. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). God demonstrated His lavish love by sending Jesus to deal with our sin and bridge access to God (Romans 5:8). As we grasp this mercy, praise is awakened within us (Luke 7:36-50). We love because of who God is and what He has done for us. Our love for God aligns with our design to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
Loving God includes both desire for God’s glory and delight in God’s goodness. We long for the flourishing of God’s reputation worldwide. We also rejoice in the perfect benevolence and beauty of God’s character. Our hearts overflow with love in response to the excellencies of God. We love God for being God.
What are signs we genuinely love God?
Authentic love for God bears fruit in our lives. As we love God, we desire to please God with our whole lives (Colossians 1:10). We long to know God more deeply through His word (Psalm 119:97). Our delight in God spills over into joyful worship (Psalm 147:1). We gladly serve and generosity give to those in need (Deuteronomy 10:12-13, James 1:27). We increasingly reflect Christlike character in how we think, speak, and act (Romans 8:29, 2 Corinthians 3:18). While imperfect, our life direction points toward God.
How does loving God relate to obeying God?
Biblically speaking, love and obedience are intimately connected. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). The apostle John wrote, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments” (1 John 5:3). Genuine love manifests itself through glad submission to God’s will. This obedience flows from devotion to God, not mere duty. It’s the natural response of those who treasure God’s wisdom and goodness.
However, our obedience will always be incomplete in this life (1 John 1:8). Thankfully, God’s love for us does not depend on perfect performance. God looks at the motivations of our heart more than our outward actions (1 Samuel 16:7). The goal is that we would walk in ever-increasing holiness out of love for God and others (1 Thessalonians 3:12).
What role does the Holy Spirit play in our love for God?
We can only love God because He first loved us and imparted His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). It is the Spirit’s work to pour out God’s love and cultivate His fruit of love within us (Galatians 5:22). The Spirit confirms God’s deep affection for us in an experiential, not just intellectual, manner (Romans 8:15-16). As we yield to the Spirit’s leading, His fruit of love grows.
The Spirit also empowers us to obey God out of love, not self-effort. We have God’s commands written on our redeemed hearts by the Spirit (Jeremiah 31:31-34). The Spirit enables us to reciprocate God’s great love with our imperfect but sincere love. Our love for God finds its source and supply in the Spirit.
Conclusion
In summary, loving God involves a complex interplay of emotion, feeling, and decision. God created us as emotional, experiential beings who can respond to Him in wholehearted devotion. Yet we must choose continually to love God above all rivals for our affection. As we meditate on God’s infinite love demonstrated in Christ, our hearts overflow with love in return by the power of the Spirit. When rightly directed, our love for God ushers us into the supreme blessing of fulfilling our design and purpose.