“Created for a Love Relationship”

A church member was always having difficulty in his personal life, with his family, at work, and in the church.  In a church meeting he became extremely angry and stormed out of the room.  It was obvious his life was filled with anger.  Soon after, the pastor met with him and asked, “Can you describe your relationship with God by sincerely saying, “I love You with all my heart?”

The strangest look came over his face.  He said, “Nobody has ever asked me that.  No, I could not describe my relationship with God that way.  I could say I obey Him, I serve Him, I worship Him, and I fear Him.  But I cannot say I love Him.”  This man had a father who never told him he loved him.  The son feared his father, but he didn’t love him.  The man had wrongly assumed God was the same kind of Father.  The pastor helped this man realize God loved him and wanted to have a loving fellowship with him.  That truth set the man free to experience the love of His heavenly Father.

Everything in this man’s life was out of order because God’s basic purpose for his life was missing.  God created us for a love relationship with Him.  If you cannot describe your relationship with God by saying that you love Him with all your being, you need to ask the Holy Spirit to bring you into that kind of a relationship.

If you were standing before God, could you describe your relationship with Him by saying, “I love You will all my heart and all my soul and all my mind and all my strength”?

Try summarizing the entire Old Testament and it would probably be expressed in this verse:

“Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength -Deuteronomy 6:4-5

This heart cry of God is expressed throughout the Old Testament. The essence of the New Testament is the same.  Quoting from Deuteronomy, Jesus said the greatest commandment in the law is

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” -Mark 12:30

Everything in your Christian life, everything about knowing Him and experiencing Him, everything about knowing His will depends on the quality of your love relationship with God.  If that is not settled, nothing in your life will be right.

He created you for fellowship with Himself.  That is the purpose of your life.  This love relationship can and should be real and personal to you.  If you need to and are willing, pause now and ask the Holy Spirit to bring you into a wholehearted love relationship with God.

Spend some time in prayer expressing your love to God.  Thank Him for the ways He has shown His love to you.  Be specific in naming what God has done.  You may want to write down and journal some of these things.  Then praise Him for His loving-kindness.