40 Days of Prayer

Do I Really Love God?

  
"We love Him because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19 NKJV

"But without disputing any longer, do we not all admit that our love to God is the sweet offspring of God's love to us? Ah! beloved, cold admiration every man may have; but the warmth of love can only be kindled by the fires of God's Spirit. Let each Christian speak for himself, we shall all hold this great and cardinal truth, that the reason of our love to God is, the sweet influence of his grace."  Charles Haddon Spurgeon, December 19, 1858

When we think about love and our Christian life journey, we have the tendency to self reflect and ask ourselves, 'Do I love?' This is not a bad question to ask and quite frankly, we should constantly examine ourselves for this answer. However, as good a practice this is, it can breed within us a legalistic measuring stick about love. 'I should love because God loves me, so how much love do I display in helping others? How much my gift actually measures giving in love?' It can be like our attitude  after eating a meal at a restaurant and calculating our server's tip. 'Let's see, 15% of $13.40 is $2.01. Does anyone have a penny?' A tip is a cold and calculated (and expected) gift to a complete stranger. Is my love in response to God's love so measured?

Before we go down that road, let's look at this verse once more. "We love Him because He first loved us." The New King James Version is the only version that has the word 'Him' within the text. All other translations say, "We love because He first loved us." The original Greek does not have a specific object of our love designated, but personally, I think the intended meaning is quite accurate, 'We love Him because He first loved us.' So, the better question to ask ourselves is not 'Do I love?' But rather, 'Do I really love God?'

We can't examine how we love others until we truly know that we actually do love Him. I know this sounds obvious, but sitting at the core of our 'life loving others in Christ's Name' is a heart that beats with an adoring love of God. Why? Because God is love (1 John 4:16). Love comes from God (4:7). Without God we cannot love. Without God's love living in us, we cannot love others. So, if the answer is "Yes! I really do love God!" then celebrate in the grace of the gift that you actually do love, for John states in 4:7, "Anyone who loves has been born of God." And when our heart opens itself to this grace, then His redemptive gift of love overwhelms our soul with joy; for love is 'not that we loved God, but that He first loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.' (4:10)

Let us pray for God's love to shine through us, but may we never forget that simple praise, "Thank you, God, that I love at all. For my own love is proof that You live in me." Praising God and loving others then become united in Christ; never calculated and immeasurable.