The great commandment, as Jesus explained, is to love God with all our soul and strength. OK. What will that look like in us? Today’s excerpt from The Kingdom Turn is found on pages 154-156:
“I want to suggest eight indicators that will say to us and God that we truly love Him.
“First, we know that we love God when we love His presence…The Apostle Paul urges us to seek the presence and glory of God, for here is where we will most surely be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. We love God when we love His presence and resort there often.
“We also love God when we love His Word – reading, meditating, studying in the Word, hiding it in our hearts and sharing it eagerly with others, saying with Jeremiah that His Word is the joy of our hearts.
“We love God when we love His salvation, and when we work hard to lay hold on and unpack that glorious gift to increasing fullness in our everyday lives.
“When we love God’s creation, which He loves, we are also loving the Lord. By giving ourselves to the study and enjoyment of creation, and to cultivating and conserving it so as to bring out the glory of God to others, we are demonstrating true love for our Father, Who owns it all.
“We may also be seen to love God when we love His works – creation, providence, and redemption – and when we talk about these eagerly and often, boasting of the greatness of our God and of His love, and when we eagerly take up all the work He has appointed for us within His Kingdom.
“We love God as we look forward to His appearing in the last days to take us home to Himself in glory. All who love the Lord Jesus pray, ‘Maranatha!’ – ‘Come, Lord,’ and bring us to Your eternal glory.
“Further, we love God when we love bringing His praises to others, and to the generations that will succeed us. As evidence of our love for God, we delight in raising our children unto the Lord, leading others to the Lord, doing the work of making disciples, and contributing to the building-up of the Body of Christ.
“Finally, we love the Lord when, at the same time we love Him, we fear Him as we should. As we’ve seen, the fear of God and love of God are two sides of the same coin, the locus of our greatest pleasure as those who have made the Kingdom turn.”
For reflection or discussion
1. Does it seem strange to think we should love God and fear Him? Why or why not?
2. In which of these areas of loving God would you like to improve? How can you do that?
To love God with all our heart means to devote all the strongest impulses and inclinations of our soul to Him. The more we love God the stronger we grow in our soul so that we can love others as we love ourselves. Share today’s podcast with a friend, then get together to discuss it. Your copy of The Kingdom Turn is waiting for you at The Ailbe Bookstore.
T. M. Moore
