Let me tell you, as a single 30-something year old lady, I am so over love. But February is notorious for shoving everything “love” down our throats. We see it on tv with all of these romantic movies. We see it in the grocery stores with all the valentine candies. We see it on social media with enviable husbands and boyfriends pampering their women. Ugh! I am seriously so over the “season of love”.

But love is truly vital for life when you think about it. Without love, there really is no point to life. Love is the reason God created us. In the book of Genesis we read about the creation of the heavens and the earth and about how we were made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26-27). He even walked with us on earth before the fall (Genesis 3:8). Can you imagine? The God of the universe, the creator of all things walked in our midst, in all his glory. It’s pretty amazing. We were created to have a relationship with God, we were created to love and be loved. 

I read a book recently where the main character had a big revelation about love and specifically about loving God. This revelation really made me think about my own relationship with God and how I love him. I thought with Valentine’s Day being this week, it would be a good week to write about love. I had my own revelation about my love for God and it went a little something like this:

To truly love someone that you relish every moment, good and bad, you have with them, that every second you decide that loving them is worthy of every breath in your body. My mind is at a standstill with incomprehension. How do I love God this way? How can I show him this kind of love?

I’ve been thinking about this since that revelation, and I’ve been going back to scripture for answers. Deuteronomy 6:5 NIV says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” When I think about this command about love, it seems all consuming and a little intimidating if I’m honest. I’m not sure that I know how to love with all my heart, soul, and strength. Does that mean there is no room for anything else? Do I just sit in my room all day long and meditate on my love for God?

I think that might actually be a good thing every once and awhile, but God knows that we have to live in this world, and that usually means having responsibilities that involve working. But scripture tells us we need to love God with all our heart, soul, and strength. What does that even look like?

I’ve been reading a historical biblical fiction on the life of Jeremiah, and I came across a passage where the author describes how the Ark of the Covenant came back to the temple and the Chief Priest encountered the glory of the Lord. 

“Hilkiah, Chief Priest of the Most High, was completely unprepared for what happened next. There, in the holiest place on earth, he was overcome with the presence of his God. The Most Holy Place did not glow-his heart did. He was on fire…He was absolutely unable to do anything but laugh and cry…He fell suddenly and totally in love with his God.” Empire of Gold: Foundations by Jo Amdahl.

I loved this depiction, and I would encourage you to read the book in its entirety. But this passage in particular really made me think about loving God in this real sense of loving with your whole heart, soul, and strength. I love the description of the Priest’s heart glowing and being actively in love.

If you think about loving someone, say your mother or your child, I think most agree that love does invoke a feeling of your heart glowing, or perhaps maybe your heart bursting with a feeling that you absolutely can’t think of living without them.

It’s a longing. A longing to be with that person. A longing to have them with you in every part of your life. It’s a longing for them to be with you in your heart, in your eternal soul, and in your physical strength where everyday life is lived. 

I’ve come to see that loving God is something done intentionally and unintentionally. Loving God means longing to be in his presence whether that is spending time in prayer or reading your Bible or praising him while getting ready for the day.

Loving God means seeing him at work in all areas of your life no matter the situation. It can be acknowledging that he gives you an extra moment to make it to work on time or being in the exact location to see the prettiest sunset and smiling at the intimacy of a shared moment with God. This kind of all-consuming love means that you know that God is in everything around you.

Loving God means showing his love through your everyday interactions with others. Like 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV states, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” Keeping those qualities in mind when dealing with others around you shows God that you love him because this is how he loves us.

Loving God means acknowledging him in every decision you make, and thanking him in those decisions regardless if the outcome is good or bad because you know in the end “… that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” Romans 8:28 NIV.

So what does love got to do with it? Absolutely everything. 1 Corinthians 13 ends like this: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” 1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV. We can be confident in living this life if we love God with all our heart, soul, and strength. It is the greatest way we can show our God that we hold nothing above him. He is our everything, in all things, and with all things. 

This February I encourage you to think about the ways you love God and to be intentional with your love. Remember that God so loved the world he gave us his only son so we could spend eternity with him (John 3:16). What an incredible love story! It is a love that will last forever. Can you imagine anything greater than that?

“So the last will be first, and the first last.” Matthew 20:16 ESV