Anytime emotions are brought up, I get a little nervous. I have emotions. Just not as wide a range of them as most people. My emotion meter ranges from “Contented Ice Queen” to “Ugly Cry” with only a few stops in-between. I’m not much for subtlety.
So when I read books on the love of God and hear emotion filled testimony on what He means to a person, I often feel like my love is inadequate. After reading one such book this weekend, I decided to turn to Scripture to determine if my relationship with God is as it should be.
Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind
I looked first to the words of Jesus.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. – Matthew 22:37-40
But what does that look like in real life?
Loving Your Neighbor is Loving Your Lord
The verses above continue to instruct that we should also love our neighbor as ourselves. A few chapters later, Jesus expounds on this thought when He teaches on the final judgment.
Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me…Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. – Matthew 25:34-40
Loving the Lord clearly includes showing kindness to those created in His image, but what else is required?
Love as Christ loved the Church
I thought of the marriage covenant as a picture of God’s love for us. I recalled Paul’s instructions to the Ephesians.
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. – Ephesians 5:25-28
The picture was coming together, but one other passage needed to be considered.
Love is…
Paul wrote a detailed explanation of love in 1 Corinthians 13:1-7. For sake of space, I will not include the verses here, but I encourage you to read them for yourself. He explains love is patient, kind, hopeful, and many more things than we often ignore when we think of the word. Butterflies and sunsets are nice, but true love is so much more.
20 Questions
Based on these Scriptures, I drafted 20 questions to determine if I have been loving my Lord well.
- Am I willing to sacrifice personal comfort for the Lord?
- Do I show honor and deference to the Lord as I would to myself?
- Do I praise and thank Him often?
- Do I serve Him?
- Do I spend time with Him?
- Do I give generously to Him and His children?
- Do I display patience towards Him?
- Do I speak and act kindly to Him?
- Do I speak of myself and my abilities more than Him and His power in me?
- Do I think more highly of Him or myself?
- Am I continually seeking for Him to meet my needs or am I searching for ways to give thanks for all He has already given?
- Am I offended when He does not orchestrate circumstances to my liking?
- Do I remember unanswered prayers with resentment?
- Do I celebrate His truth or reject it?
- Do I endure suffering and trials with joyful trust in Him or with anger and frustration?
- Do I believe He wants the best for my future?
- Do I take Him at His word?
- Do I deflect praise to Him or seek glory for myself?
- Do I obey His directives?
- Do I follow His leadership in my life?
While there will always be room for improvement in all relationships this side of Heaven, we can deepen and cultivate our relationship with God just as we can grow in our earthly relationships. I encourage you to take stock of your own relationship with the Lord, celebrating the good and taking note of areas needing improvement.
Have I left anything out? What questions would you add to this list? Add your thoughts in the comments below.