By Greg Holt
Do you say “I love you” to your spouse? Does your spouse say “I love you”, to you as well?
It is nice to hear those words, nice to see the words “I love you” in action. Maybe to you that means your husband takes the kids so you can have some quiet time, or he does some jobs around the house you normally do. Maybe your wife helps you out on a project once in awhile, or encourages you to watch that football game with the guys on occasion. Love as an action means a lot of different things to different people. We all want to hear those words “I love you”; we should not have to be made to assume the other loves us.
Our Father in heaven knows if you love Him, there is no fooling Him. God knows all things at all times and we will not be pulling the wool over His eyes. Still, that being said…God wants us to express that love to Him. In fact the bible tells us to do that very thing!
Deuteronomy 6:5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  
Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.
John 15:9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.
1 John 5:2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.
God’s command is clear, to love Him above and before all others. Then we are to love all others as ourselves. Since God is omniscient, how are we to tell Him we love Him? I believe that God wants us to tell Him we love Him verbally, through prayer, and especially through worship. Even more so then this, it is our actions that define our love for God. We love because God first loved us, 1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us.
We love because God is love 1 John 4:8
God says we love Him if we obey Him (1 John 5:3) So we need to do the things God has commanded of us if we love Him. Faith is an action; so also is love. God loved us, loves us, and will always love us…that will never change. God’s Word will never change either, (Isaiah 40:8) therefore the command to, love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, (Luke 10:27) will never change either.
Think about this for a minute if you will; God’s word commands us to love Him. So we need to obey that command and love Him. However, that being said…if you are a follower, a disciple of Jesus, one who calls the name of Jesus as Lord…should you have to be commanded to love God?
Jesus came to this earth and suffered more agony then any of us can even begin to understand. The most horrendous torture of a human being ever devised and carried out…does not even begin to compare to Jesus suffering on the cross. The most severe mental aguish ever experienced for any length of time, does not begin to compare to the anguish Jesus suffered when the sins of all people throughout all time…were placed upon Him.
The point of all this?
Why did Christ do this, and why did the Father send His Son to suffer these things? Yes God has to be true to Himself first and foremost or He would cease to be God.
God the Father sent the Son, and the Son obeyed His Father; Christ suffered and died upon the cross because He loves us that much.
So let me ask again…should the God who gave up everything have to command your love?
Give God your love willingly…no one will ever do for you what He has. No one will ever love you more than He does.
Originally appeared in full on Christian Blessings