Do You Love God?

JOHN 21:17a NKJ 17 He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?"

Have you ever asked someone if they loved you? Even if you never asked, no doubt you have wondered.

When most people hear the question, "Do you love God?" they feel guilty, thinking they need to do more for God. But they are getting the cart before the horse.

1 JOHN 4:19 NKJ 19 We love Him because He first loved us.

For us to love someone we must first think they are lovable. This is the main problem: most people do not realize God is truly lovable. They have a distorted picture of God, thinking He is a demanding tyrant who doesn't really care about them.

1 JOHN 4:16 NKJ 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

When we know and believe the love God has for us, it is natural for us to respond to His love by loving Him back.

When you truly know what God is like, you WILL love Him. Because you love Him and trust Him, you will treasure His words from the Bible and desire to act on His instructions, which were given for your welfare.

JOHN 14:23 NKJ 23 Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

Jesus did not say those who love Him will "always perfectly obey My word," but will "keep My word." Those who love the Lord may make mistakes and have failures, but they will not throw away the precious Words of the One they love.

Our obedience to God's word is not the basis for Him loving us or accepting us. But it is the key to us walking in victory and blessing instead of failure.

If you do not love God you have been deceived. You have the wrong picture of God. You have not discovered the real truth about what He is like and what He has done.

(To know what God is like, look at Jesus of Nazareth by reading Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the New Testament.)

SAY THIS: I love You Father God!