Cultivating a Love for God

While we are just people, He is so loving that He’s made Himself available to us so we can get to know Him in ways we understand.

In order to love and understand someone, you have to get to know them deeply. If you were dating someone and were super into them, you would want to know everything about them. When you like someone and can’t get enough of them, you spend hours on the phone asking them their likes, dislikes, hopes, and dreams. You want to spend every second with them. When you truly love someone, it seems like there is nothing in the world that could keep you from them. You would do anything for the one you love and go anywhere for your person. 

Now think about a relationship with God. God is so much more than a date or earthly relationship: He is the Almighty, eternal Creator of the universe. While we are just people, He is so loving that He’s made Himself available to us so we can get to know Him in ways we understand. If we want to deeply love God and serve Him, we have to understand some things about Him. What are His loves, what does He hate, what is His character? What can we do to know Him more so we can love Him more?

Get to Know God 

Who is God? What is His personality and character?

• • 1 John 4:8 tells us that God is love. The word for love in this verse is ἀγάπη, or agape, which, in Greek, is the highest form of unconditional love. God is that love. 
  • 1 John 1:5 says, “God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.” Light is a metaphor for God’s perfection (Psalm 4:6; Isaiah 60:1-2). People are drawn out of the darkness of sin to the light of God’s goodness and truth (Psalm 27:1). 
  • God is good and never changes (Matthew 19:17; James 1:17). 
  • God is faultless: He cannot sin or do wrong (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 John 3:5). 
  • He is kind, tenderhearted, merciful, and forgiving  (Psalm 86:15; Psalm 116:5; Psalm 145:17; Ephesians 4:32; 1 Peter 1:3).
  • God doesn’t force us to follow Him, He gives us free will and choice. He is not coercive or abusive (Revelation 3:20).
  • God is a good Father (Psalm 23:6; 68:5; 103:13; Matthew 6:25-34; 7:11; 2 Corinthians 1:3; Ephesians 1:3). He cares for the orphan, the widow, and foreigner (Deuteronomy 10:18; Psalm 146:9). God adopts us as His own children (Ephesians 1:5).
  • God uses our deepest pains and hurts for His good. God allows tragedy, which is often seen as one of the greatest mysteries of God. We truly will never be able to understand the complexities of this on earth, but we do know through scripture that God doesn’t leave us in our deepest and darkest moments. He redeems our sorrows, He transforms us through our pain, and He is able to use our pain for His good and glory (Romans 8:28; Genesis 50:20). 
  • God is faithful. He keeps His promises. God promises to never leave or abandon us (Hebrews 13:5). God promises to give us salvation if we believe Jesus is Lord and God raised Him from the dead (Romans 6:23; 10:9-10). Often we mix up God’s faithfulness with God’s kindness. When God blesses us or gives us something good, it’s an act of His kindness to us; when God keeps his word to His people, it’s a sign of his faithfulness.

Spend Time with God

What a gift that God —the Almighty, eternal, omnipotent God, Creator of the universe— is so loving and kind that He has made Himself available to us at any time, any place, through Jesus. We can speak directly to Him, in our thoughts, with our words, or through our worship. 

When we spend time with God in worship or in prayers of praise, we can express our love, devotion, and praise through songs, dance, art, words, prayer, righteous character, and with our very souls (Psalm 33:1-3, 100:2, 149:3, 150; Luke 1:46-55; Acts 2:26; Philippians 1:11). We don’t have to be polished or put together; God doesn’t need us to put on a show or look good for people watching. He looks at our hearts and knows what we need before we even ask Him. (1 Samuel 16:7; Matthew 6:5-8). When we spend time with Him in these ways, it can remind us how wonderful and truly incredible God is.

Philippians 4:6-7 instructs us to pray about everything, to tell God what we need, and thank Him for what He’s done. Prayer is direct communication with God, i.e. talking to Him. The Bible tells us to keep praying always, pray for other believers, for political rulers and authorities, our enemies, and all people (Ephesians 6:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; 1 Timothy 2:1-4). James tells us to pray when we are suffering, sick, or happy (James 5:13-16). God cares about us on our best days and worst, and He listens. Sometimes being with God just looks like crying or pouring out our souls to Him (1 Samuel 16:7). God is a loving Father who wants to be in a close relationship with us, in pain, sorrow, happiness, and joy. 

When you accept Jesus as your savior, and the free gift of salvation He provided by dying for our sins and rising from the dead (Romans 3:23-24), God hears every single one of your prayers (Psalm 34:12-16) and hears them. God hears us in our praises and our distress (Psalm 18:6, 34:6, 118:5). He has time and comfort for us when we are heartbroken (Psalm 34:18; 2 Corinthians 1:3-4). 

It can be so difficult and extremely painful for us to understand when our prayers aren’t answered with a “yes.” It seems like God is distant and has left us, but, another mystery of our faith is that sometimes God uses our pain to let the power of Christ work through us (2 Corinthians 12:1-10; James 1:2-4). He promises that once we accept the free gift of salvation, He won’t ever take it away (1 John 10:28-29). In her book, “It’s Not Supposed to be This Way”, Lisa Terkurst says, “These seasons of suffering are not for nothing. They will grow you. They will shape you. They will soften you. They will allow you to experience God’s comfort and compassion. But you will find life-giving purpose and meaning when you allow God to take your painful experiences and comfort others. You will be able to share a unique hope because you know exactly what it feels like to be them.”

Even on our darkest days, we can see God’s goodness.

Study the Bible Deeply

One of the best ways to get to know God is through the Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” God’s Word is living and active according to Hebrews 4:12, and it has the power to expose our deepest thoughts and desires. Every time we read the Bible, we can learn something new, no matter how many times we go back to the same words. It can change our hearts and minds. It shows us who God is through stories, people’s personal accounts and experiences, written praise, and God’s interactions with others. The Bible is inspired by God, and it gives us instruction, guidance, hope, comfort, and joy (2 Peter 1). 

When you love someone deeply, and they write you a note or letter, it often is something you save and reread, over and over. You keep it, you hold it close to your heart, and protect it from being lost or damaged. That’s how we can use the Bible: a message from God to meditate on. It’s words of love from the One who loves us the absolute most. It reminds us of God’s character, love for us, and our love for Him. When we’re sad or lonely, we can read it again and again as a comfort.

Study your Bible deeply. Don’t just rely on pastors, leaders, friends, or Bible studies to give you the Bible: dig into it for yourself. We are so fortunate to live in a world where the Bible is accessible to us in almost every language on the planet, in any translation available, on apps, online, and in print. There are free commentaries, sermons, studies, tools, etymology resources, and everything you could need or want to understand God’s Word and the context, right at your fingertips. If you have questions, ask them. Use commentaries to give insight and study the words. God can handle what you ask Him. If you have doubts, ask for guidance from trustworthy believers, study what scripture really says, talk to God and ask Him for wisdom. He promises to give it to us if we ask and won’t rebuke us (James 1:5). In America in 2021, we are wildly and incredibly blessed to be able to read the Bible openly without persecution. Take advantage of your freedoms and get into your Bible.

Abide in the Holy Spirit

Sometimes, we don’t see the Holy Spirit for what He is. We think of Him as an “it,” we see Him as a mini version of God’s spirit, or maybe see Him as a non-essential extra. But, this isn’t true at all. The Holy Spirit is God’s living Spirit, given to us when we accept salvation, to help us (John 4:24; Acts 2:33, 38; Romans 8:15). He’s not a watered-down version of God; the Holy Spirit is a member of the Trinity, an essential part of the person of God. Jesus said the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth who is given to us to guide us (16:13-15). He was there at creation (Genesis 1:1-2). Romans 8:2 says the Spirit is “life-giving and has freed us from the power of sin” because we belong to Jesus. He is our Advocate, helper, and teacher (John 14:25-26, 15:26).  

He is powerful, He helps us understand God the Father better, He prays for us, and gives us love for others (Romans 8:26, 15:19; Colossians 1:8; 1 Corinthians 2:10-11; 2 Timothy 1:7;).

When we abide in the Spirit, it means we live in and with Him. We remain in God and God remains in us (John 15). We let go of sin and let Him control our minds, thoughts, and actions. When we let our old sinful nature control us, it leads us to death, destruction, and harm (Romans 8:5-6; Galatians 5:19-21). God’s Spirit gives us the power to overcome our sinful nature and live in freedom (Romans 8:12-14; 2 Corinthians 3:17). He gives us the desires of God (Galatians 5:17). The Holy Spirit gives us life and joins us to affirm that we are God’s children, adopted as His own, because of Christ’s sacrifice for us (Romans 8:15-17). 

We are instructed not to restrain the Holy Spirit, but to let the Holy Spirit guide our lives (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22). When we let the Spirit direct us, He produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control in our lives (Galatians 5:16-23). Galatians 5:24-16 says, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.”

Study How Jesus Treated People

When you study God’s Word, see how Jesus really treated others. Observe His character, look into the words he spoke, and learn who He is. So many times people use Jesus to justify a belief or political idea and say things like, “Jesus would have been a part of the _____ political party”, or “Jesus would be a part of the  _____ organization if He were here today.” We often want to use a manipulation of God’s character to prove we are right, but usually we aren’t taking an honest, genuine look at who Jesus is in the Bible. 

When Jesus was here on earth, He didn’t affirm sinners’ ungodly behavior, but He set them free from sin, spoke the truth, loved them, and treated them with respect (John 4:1-30; 8:1-11; Luke 7:36-50). He didn’t care about displays of religious works, but about people turning to God to be saved (Matthew 23:1-36). He didn’t leave people in their sin; he gave them a new life and hope for the future (Mark 2:15-17). He healed the physically sick and gave the spiritually dead new life (Matthew 4:23-24; Mark 2:1-12, 3:10; Luke 4:40;  Romans 6:11; Colossians 2:13). Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-40, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.’” He treated those looked down on by society with dignity, kindness, and love, i.e. women, children, tax collectors, etc. (Luke 8:1-2; 10:38-42; 18:15-17; 19:1-10; 23:49). 

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