4 Ways to Love God

– Chuck Colson

Obedience

Jesus tells us how we can prove our love for Him: “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him” (John 14:21) and “This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). The Apostle John answers the question about what the love of God really is: “This is love, that we walk according to His commandments” (2 John 1:6).

Showing Mercy

The Apostle Paul writes, “God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us” (Ephesians 2:4). So should we, as Jude wrote, “And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh” (Jude 1:22-23). Since God showed us mercy, we should be merciful to others. In the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, Jesus says, “Should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you” (Matthew 18:33)?

Rescuing the Perishing

We are commissioned by God to participate in the harvest and so we must enter into the fields because we’ve been commanded by Jesus Christ to do so (Matt 28:19-20). Since “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2nd Pet 3:9), shouldn’t that be our desire too? That shows we love Him by being used by God to point people to Christ so they might be saved.

Being His Body

The church is called the body of Christ, and we know from Scripture that Jesus is the Head of the Church (Colossians 1:18) and we are the body. What does the Body of Christ do to prove our love for Him? We feed the poor, clothe the naked, visit the sick, go to those in prison, and make strangers feel welcome (Matthew 25:35-36). And as far as Jesus is concerned, He reminds us all that “as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40).

Conclusion

For someone to say they love God but do not obey His commands, I would ask, “What chapter and verse says we can disobey Christ and still claim we love Him?” There is no such verse. The truth is we obey Him out of love; we show mercy for others as He did for us; we reach out to lost people, which Christ did; and we act as part of the body of Christ and do those things that He would do if here on Earth.