Have you ever wondered how you can demonstrate to God that you love Him?
Jesus told us that if we love Him we will obey His commands.
But what does that even mean? What are His commands?
Jesus also told us His commands boil down to loving God and loving others.
Well, the loving God part becomes somewhat circular with regard to this argument. I mean, we are trying to determine what it means to love God; we are told that it means obeying Him; and we are told that His command is to love Him. It’s circular and leaves us still looking for definition.
I’ve heard it said that you know you love someone when you live to make their dreams come true. Setting aside the syrupy applications of this definition, I like it. But to apply this definition to our love for God we must also define what His dreams are.
What are God’s dreams?
They are revealed in His word. The overriding purpose demonstrated throughout Scripture is that God’s dream is to bless His children so that they will bless all nations in order that all the world might be saved. We can see this theme time and time again in places like Genesis 12:1-3 (also see Hebrews 6), where God establishes the Abrahamic Covenant, telling Abraham that He is going to bless Abraham and through that blessing bless all the families of the earth. Then in Psalm 22:27, when David is describing Jesus, we see these words:
All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him.
God tells us he wants all men to come to a saving knowledge of Him, 1 Timothy 2:3-4, and that He desires that His lovingkindness would lead to everyone’s repentance and salvation. 2 Peter 3:9.
So, we, as lovers of God, should live to make this dream come true. We should live our lives to lead all men to God. He tells us to be His witnesses to the very ends of the Earth. Acts 1:8. And if we live our lives as Jesus lived, giving it all away in worship of the Father, Romans 12:1-2, we can demonstrate His lovingkindness wherever we go, being a part of God’s dream for all the earth. But, just as with Abraham, this likely takes us leaving what we know and going to a place God will show us. The world can’t know without God’s people going, showing, and telling them about His great love.