KEY SCRIPTURE: Mark 12:30 “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”

A pastor shared his experience when he was a younger pastor. He had fallen in love with a very pretty lady in one of the universities in Ghana. He used almost all his monthly salary to buy a pair of shoes for this lady. She left Accra to visit her on campus. He went to her room but found her absence. When she returned, she came in the company of another man. After giving her the gift, she quickly left with the boy, leaving him in the room for hours. He sat there weeping until the lady’s roommate asked him to stop being foolish, for it was clear the lady had fallen in love with the other boy. He loved someone who had no love for him. What you love controls you. If you truly love God, He would definitely control you; that would be peace, goodwill and favour.

Love is always an act of commitment. A man is controlled by what he truly loves. You always adore what you love. You will seek to please what you love. You are either a free man or a slave, depending on what you love.

Considering all that is said above, loving God with all your being is indeed the greatest thing a man can do. If this is not done, anything else you love becomes a snare to you. Unfortunately, most men don’t truly love God. They come to Him for what they would get from Him. They love the gifts but do not regard the giver. Romans 1:25 puts it this way, “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen”.

The Bible teaches that men would face difficult moments in the last days, because they would love themselves rather than love God.

2 Timothy 3:1-2 “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,”

Men would produce all those negative natures because they are controlled by their selfish nature.

The Lord instructs all his followers to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him (Matt 16:24). For he that will love himself will lose it. To love God with all your being is the only way to preserve yourself. In Joshua 23:11-13, Joshua tells the Israelites to take heed to love the Lord, yet if they choose to love these nations and marry their women, it would become snares and thorns in their flesh and their eyes till they die.

The sure test that you truly love God is the presence of peace in your heart, even in the face of adversity. Dear child of God, if there is no peace in your heart, then you have other things there; repent, and cast those things out, for your true comfort and peace of mind.

CONFESSION

I love the Lord with all my being. My life is an expression of Himself in me. I live a very fulfilled life because I live for God.

FURTHER STUDIES

Matthew 16:24-25” Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it”.

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”