Prove It

What does it mean to love the Lord with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind? And how can you tell whether someone really loves God?

First, if we really love God, we will long for personal communion with Him. When you really love someone, you like to spend time with them. You enjoy their company and their companionship. In the same way, if you really love the Lord, then you’ll want to be in fellowship with Him.

Second, a person who loves God will love the things that He loves. And we know what God loves by what He has said in His Word. The psalmist declared, “Oh, how I love your instructions!” (Psalm 119:97 NLT). Do you love the Word of God?

Third, do you love hanging out with the people of God? God loves the church. Do you love lost people? God does. If you love the Lord, then you will long for fellowship with Him, and you will love what He loves.

The flip side of that is if you love the Lord, then you will hate the things that He hates. That’s because His nature is becoming your nature. Psalm 97:10 says, “You who love the Lord, hate evil! He protects the lives of his godly people and rescues them from the power of the wicked” (NLT). God hates sin, and we should, too.

Fourth, if you love God, then you will love other Christians. The apostle John pointed out, “For if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?” (1 John 4:20 NLT). Our love for God isn’t real if we hate other Christians. And 1 John 3:14 says, “If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead” (NLT).

Fifth, if you really love God, then you will long for the return of Jesus Christ. Writing to Timothy, the apostle Paul said, “And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8 NLT).

Do you love His appearing? Are you longing for the return of Jesus? A Christian who loves God will look forward to His return.

Sixth, if you love God, then you will keep His commandments. Jesus said, “Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them” (John 14:21 NLT).

The problem is that our actions don’t match our words. If we love God, then let’s keep His commandments. And if we are not willing to keep His commandments, then let’s stop talking about our love for God. The proof is in our actions, in what we do.

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