What Does It Really Mean to Love God?
How do I really love God?
Is it by going to church every Sunday?
By serving my community?
By reading the Bible every day?
By tithing regularly?
By praying faithfully?
These practices may reflect a pursuit of God—but they don’t define love on their own. Love is not just a checklist of Christian disciplines. True love is about devotion, not duty.
The more I contemplate what it means to love God, the more I realize how challenging it is to love both God and others with the depth He calls for. As a Christian, I long to love God in the same way He has loved me—but I know that such love can only be practiced through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Because honestly? My default response isn’t mercy. It’s justice.
It’s "eye for an eye"—not "turn the other cheek."
But love doesn’t keep score. It lays itself down.
Scriptures That Help Me Run Toward Love:
John 15:13
"No one has greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."
Who lives this out? Soldiers. First responders. Those who step into danger so others may live. But Jesus didn’t limit this kind of love to battlefields. He called us to it in everyday life—where selflessness, sacrifice, and forgiveness become our battlefield of the heart.
John 15:12
"Love one another as I have loved you."
1 John 4:8
"Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."
1 Corinthians 13:3–13
"If I give all I possess to the poor…but have not love, I gain nothing…And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
Love is patient. Love is kind. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. And yes—love never fails.
From C.S. Lewis: The Four Loves
In his book The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis divides love into four types:
Affection – the love of familiarity
Friendship – the bond of shared interest
Eros – romantic, passionate love
Charity (Agape) – the selfless, divine love that gives without expecting anything in return
God's love is gift-love—not because He needs us, but because He desires us. He pursues us not out of obligation, but out of infinite affection.
Final Thought:
If your love for God has started to feel like obligation, pause and ask yourself:
"Am I loving from devotion or out of duty?"
The love that transforms is not transactional—it’s relational.
Let the truth of His love for you renew your desire to love Him back—not because you have to… but because you get to.