Many times we hear people say they love God, but is that true? If we analyze whether people really love God, we will find several factors.
To speak about loving God is something very common in our days. Many people mention God, sing to God, pray to God, and even claim to follow Him. However, loving God is not just a declaration that comes out of our mouth; it is a way of life that must be reflected in our daily walk, in our decisions, and in the way we treat others.
In order to know God it is not enough to read the Bible only, we must apply it in our lives, that we put into practice what it tells us, and so we will be well and be upright before God.
The Word of God was not given to us merely to increase our knowledge, but to transform our hearts. When Scripture is read but not lived, it becomes information instead of revelation. True love for God moves us to obedience, humility, and repentance, because we understand that His Word is life and truth.
Many say they love God but the reality is that they only do it with their lips. These words seem as if I were judging others but it is not so, since love to God goes beyond our thoughts and deeds.
Jesus Himself warned about this reality when He spoke about people who honor God with their lips but whose hearts are far from Him. Loving God involves the heart, the will, and our actions. It is impossible to claim love for God while walking in constant disobedience or indifference toward His commandments.
That is why if you really love God, you must love your neighbor as yourself. In this way you show that you know God, since the same Bible gives us this detail in the book of John.
He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
1 John 4:8
This verse clearly teaches us that love is not optional in the life of a believer. God does not simply have love; God is love. Therefore, if He dwells in us, His love must also flow through us. A life without love toward others is a clear sign that something is missing in our relationship with God.
The foregoing is indispensable to show that we love God because Christ gave Himself on the cross of Calvary in living sacrifice to give us freedom.
The sacrifice of Christ is the greatest expression of love that humanity has ever known. He did not love us when we were perfect, but when we were sinners. His love was demonstrated through action, pain, and surrender, and it calls us to reflect that same love in our own lives.
If God loved us without any condition as we were sinners, why don’t we give of that love that He gave us? Because love can do everything, break chains, free the captive, and fill the dejected heart.
The love of God has power to heal wounds, restore families, forgive offenses, and bring hope where there is despair. When we love as God loves, we become instruments of His grace in a world that desperately needs compassion and mercy.
That is why we love with only one reason, to show people that Christ lives in us, so that we can say that we have God in our hearts, because if it is true that we have God, then we will not have to speak because that love is going to reflect and transform life around you.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
1 John 4:11
This is the true evidence of a genuine relationship with God. Love becomes our testimony, louder than words and stronger than arguments. When we love as He loved us, the world will see Christ reflected in our lives, and God will be glorified through our obedience.