Love The Lord!

May 15, 2025

Love The Lord!

We are commanded to love! 

The love commandment is more than a suggestion or a recommendation.  The love commandment is more than an expectation or an aspiration.  The love commandment is more than good advice or a sincere request.  The love commandment is more than a moral directive or a social mandate.

We are commanded to love!   

Fulfilling God’s commandment to love begins with loving Jesus.  When challenged by the religious leaders of His day, Jesus describes the greatest of all the commandments.  In Matthew 22:37-38 Jesus says; “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the greatest and first commandment.”     

We are commanded to love the Lord God with all our heart, mind, and soul before we love anything or anyone else.  Our first love is Jesus! 

In the early chapters of the Book of Revelation, the Lord offers both compliments and criticisms of the early churches.  When addressing one of those churches in Revelation 2:4, Jesus says; “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.”  Many in that church were beginning to abandon their first love; Jesus!  The abandonment of their love for Jesus saddens the heart of Jesus.

Our first love is Jesus!  We are to love Jesus with all of our heart, all of our mind, and all of our soul before we love anything and anyone else.  In other words, Jesus wants all of our love just as He has given all of His love to us.

In I John 4:16 we hear; “So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.  God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.”

I wonder if some of our best prayers are not our prayers for healing in the life of another, not our prayers for the salvation of a co-worker, and not our prayers for healing in a broken church.  I wonder if some of our best prayers are the prayers in which we over and over and over tell Jesus how much we love Him.

We express our love of Jesus in praise for what He has done.

We pronounce our love of Jesus in appreciation for His presence and power.   

We share our love of Jesus in gratitude for who He is.

We shout our love of Jesus for the confidence of knowing Jesus is our Lord of Lords and our King of Kings.

We convey our love of Jesus in anticipation for what He is about to do.

We state our love of Jesus in thanks for His protection and provision.

We declare our love of Jesus in expectation of the abundant life He promises us.

We announce our love of Jesus for holding our hand when we fall and when we need direction. 

Our first love is Jesus!  We are to love Jesus with all of our heart, all of our mind, and all of our soul before we love anything and anyone else.  Our love for Jesus is expressed in and continues to grow as we give Jesus our love in prayer, in worship, and in our generosity.

I invite you to take some time today to express your deep love for Jesus.  Let your love flow from all of your heart, all of your mind, and all of your soul…from every part of who you are to Jesus!  When you do, your heart will begin to overflow again with delight in the Lord.  What a great day…what a great blessing…what a great and good God!

Take Delight In The Lord!

Doug