What does it mean to truly love God with all your heart? What does this look like in daily life? I don't mean just the "sentiment" of i love you Lord but truly living in such a way that express a completely devoted love to the Lord no matter what happens in life, no matter what happens to you or your family?
God Bless
maryjane
Well, I was watching this question and nobody answered, so I reckon I will share my two cents...
Jesus says if ye love me, keep my commandments. But what are they?
One pastor said that spiritual maturity has been reached when obedience to God and his word becomes a joy. The older I get the better I am understanding this concept.
To love God with all our heart means that I want every day, every moment to reflect this walk. To accomplish this I have to keep my spiritual ears tuned to his voice. I will ask Jesus to teach me recognize his voice when he speaks so I can act on it. This process gets downright interesting at times. And sometimes annoying when I fail to understand that what I was hearing was his voice. The consequences will demonstrate that.
What do you say, Mary Jane? Got anything in particular to share?
He loved...He gave...when your will is in the hands of the Master and you are walking in the Spirit then others come first and His will grows dominant in your life.and your works change fom egocentric to Christ centered actions of obedience and JOYOUS sacrifice.jimp
What better than to listen to the Apostle known for Love...
1John 2:5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
1John 4:20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
1John 4:21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
I can answer what loving God looks like:
1Pe 1:8
Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,
Haven't gotten there yet myself, hoping to. By the way, an excellent book on loviing Christ is titled The True Christian's Love of the Unseen Christ by Thomas Vincent.
You hear "excellent book" a lot but this really is a fantastic helpful meditative work on loving Christ written in the sixteen hundreds and is flowing exclusively with supernatural and practical truths right out of Scripture but written with such a devotional pastoral attitude by a man who truly lived out love to God and people. I read it over and over.
Thank you everyone for your responses. I asked this question because recently somethings were shared with me on what it means to live for Christ and what it means to love Christ. I had not considered that there is more to following Jesus then just believing who HE is, that HE desires our full love and attention.
Someone very close to me asked me some questions- "What if you never “feel” spiritual? What if you are never “somebody”? What if the trials and pressures of this world only get worse? What if everyone around you, including your children reject Jesus? Are you willing to just treat Him for the rest of your life as the King He is? Will you subject yourself and ALL your wants to Him? The failures? Responding to Jesus with full abandonment of all that we want is the definition of faith."
At first I thought I knew exactly how I would answer each of these questions but the more I pray on this, the more I seek HIM, the more I realize that I do not know as much as I thought I did. I say I love the Lord but does my life always reflect that...sadly no. I want to love HIM, I want my life to reflect HIM but is that enough to want it? It troubles me that I find myself wondering that I find myself far from HIM...
God Bless
maryjane
What an excellent thread. Every post was very good. They were so good that I will forgo what I was planning to write, with the one exception that we do not need to be sinless to Love God or for God to love us.
From 1 John 1-10, we know how much God loves us, and He knows we are imperfect, that we will sin as long as we live, but when we confess our sins, God WILL forgive our sins, and He will cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
I believe the song 'la vie en rose' reflects our love relationship with God, Father , Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus in particular as our groom.
When he takes me in his arms,
he speaks to me so low,
I see my life en rose [pronounced: ro - sa]
He tells me words of love,
Everyday these words,
And this does something to me.
He has entered my heart,
With a happiness,
Of which I know the cause. [Cau-sa]
It's him for me
and me for him
in my life,
He tells me this,
every day,
of my life.
And these things become apparent,
Then I sense in me,
My beating heart.
I thought that love was just a word
They sang about in songs I heard
It took your death to reveal
That I was wrong and love is real
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