Just kidding. I'm not actually gonna talk about Valentine's Day at all-I wouldn't do that. But I am gonna talk about love, the Agape kind of love :)
I've had quite a few conversations recently about showing God we love him. A friend asked: "At what point am I doing ministry, reading my bible, or praying because I love God or because it has become routine?" In response to this question, another friend said that when they find themselves thinking that, they think about what their life was like without God, which leads them to their realization of how they love God. After thinking about my life before Christ, I shared this with another friend who challenged me and asked if I only love God because of what He has done for me.
At what point did I fall in love with the Lord? I think it was when I heard that He loved me for the first time ever. The reason the idea of Jesus was so attractive to me at age 16 was because I realized that He was literally the only person that I didn't have to prove anything to; that there was someone who loved me, and always did and always will love me, regardless of who I was or what I did or everything that I found my identity in. That is why I decided I wanted to let him in and love Him back, because He loved me first. So when I think, do I only love God because of what He has done for me...ultimately the answer is yes, because what He has done for me is love me, and "We love because he first loved us." (1 John 4:19)
Regarding how to show God we love him, someone suggested taking ourselves out of the equation. They said don't think about what you can do for God, just think about the character of God himself, and I think that is exactly right. What matters is that God sees me, a wretched sinner, and knows every single thing about me, and values me more than anyone on this earth ever could. Naturally, there is NOTHING good about me, but God thinks of me as his treasured possession. "For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession." (Deuteronomy 4:12) This is what sets the Lord's love apart. And this is what I know about the Lord and His character, which fuels my love for Him.
So I don't think there is an answer or formula to how we can show our love to God. I currently dislike everything about formulas and structure, especially concerning my walk with the Lord because Christ has set me free and where is the freedom in that?! Anyway, I believe that the simplest response is to just think about the fact that God, the Creator of the universe and everything in it, loves ME.... that actually just made me laugh. But I know that it is true, and that is what compels me to live a life pleasing to God, or at least try to and mess up a whole lot. :)
"Always remember that God is easy to get along with, and if your heart is right, He is not too concerned about the formula. God is kind and good and gracious, because there are some of us that are just too hard to get along with. If God were as hard to get along with as we are, there would be one perpetual quarrel between our souls and God. God has to be easy to live with, and if He knows you mean right, He will let you make all sorts of mistakes and not care."-A.W. Tozer (credz to mah gurl Joanna Rose)
Serious bomb on that one-sorry bout it!
