By: Amanda Douglas

The month of February tends to focus on love, specifically romantic love. Many consider romantic love between a significant other as the greatest kind of love. The bond shared between a husband and wife, in particular, is considered top-tier. In our society today, what love could be greater?

God’s love, of course! God has a perfect and complete love. Even the most extraordinary romantic relationship cannot compare. Most metaphors used to compare God to earthly things don’t equate seamlessly. God, in His love for us, sacrificed His Son on our behalf. When humanity fell in the Garden of Eden, God knew there needed to be a way for mankind to be redeemed. He started the restoration process then and there when He said in Genesis 3:15: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” This verse prophesies the tussle between Satan and Jesus. God knew what needed to be done from the beginning. The human race couldn’t do it alone. Help from The Father (through The Son) was necessary.

Although no metaphor will compare, imagine this:

Your child is playing outside, trips, falls, and breaks their arm. You, in great love for your child, bring them to the hospital so that a physician can cleanse the wound, put a cast on your child’s arm, and restore it to its former condition.

God, (parent) in His love, sent His Son (the physician) to restore man’s former condition. He loves us and wouldn’t leave us or forsake us, just as you wouldn’t leave your child to suffer.

Now, taking this metaphor a step farther, if you broke your arm, you could choose the medical care that was offered to you to recover, or reject such care and suffer through the pain on your own. Faith in Jesus is a free gift given graciously to us by Our Father. We can choose to reject that gift, just as you could choose to reject medical care. Why suffer when there can be healing and restoration? Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” God, through Christ, wants to give us rest for our weary souls through His sacrifice.

When we think about how great the magnitude of God’s love is for us, how could we possibly love Him just as He loves us?

First, we need to realize:

We cannot love God how He loves us.
God is perfect. We are not. We fail. He does not.

St. Paul says in Romans chapter 7:
“For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (verses 15-24)

No matter what we do, we still have sin that dwells within us. This sin encompasses us in a body of death. We cannot love God with our whole heart. It is impossible in our current state. This makes God’s love even more magnificent. Our relationship is not of equal passion or responsibility. We are the cheating spouse. The selfish spouse. The lazy spouse. The self-consuming bride. God came down from heaven as the Son of man to be our perfect Groom. He picks up the pieces. He is faithful. He is sacrificial. He is always working for the good of those who love Him. The only way to love God is to have faith in Jesus Christ.

We cannot please God.
Nothing we do is pleasing to God. Only Christ’s sacrifice.

Romans chapter 7 goes on to say:
“Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh, I serve the law of sin.” (verse 25)

The only way to love God is to have faith in Christ. The only way to please God is to have faith in Christ. Without Jesus, God sees our sin. God cannot be around sin. A perfectly holy, perfectly just God cannot be in the presence of sin. Without Christ, there is no repentance of sin. There is no forgiveness. Therefore, we are dead in our sins. We are stuck in this “body of death” that Paul speaks about. We cannot be with our Creator. Our Father wanted us. He didn’t need us to please Him. Humanity fell in the garden, and Our Father still wanted us. So much so, He came down from heaven to die to sin on our behalf. Are you comprehending this? Do I need to repeat it again?

God is perfect.

He created the universe.

He does not need us at all whatsoever.

We cannot please Him.

YET He was willing to redeem us because

HE. LOVES. US. THAT. MUCH.

Don’t even try to please Him in accordance to earthly standards. He doesn’t need it.

We show our love for God by serving our neighbor
The only way to love God is to have faith in Christ. The way to show our love for God is to share the Gospel and to show God’s love to others through service. It is impossible to serve wholeheartedly all the time. It is impossible to accomplish The Great Commandment (Love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and love our neighbor as ourselves) at all times. We are the same as St. Paul. Stuck in our sin.
BUT when we show God’s love to others through acts of service, we can point our neighbor away from ourselves and to Christ.

In Him, there is perfection.

How can I love God through serving?
Be creative! There are subtle ways to serve and more direct ways.
Some forms of subtle service:

• Sincerely praying
• Building loving relationships with others
• Conducting daily tasks without complaint

In these subtle acts, you can stand out in a world of chaos. When your neighbor asks why you are so loving, or why you care for them, in the bond you have created with them, share the love of Christ. Tell them where your love comes from.

More direct ways to serve:

• Invite a friend to church or a Bible study
• Volunteer at your church or non-profit organization
• Donate to an organization in need of funds
• Pay for someone’s meal at a restaurant and say a prayer for them
• Go on a mission trip
• Help Eve’s Restoration Ministries through financial support or get involved in our mission to “Provide Parenting Resources & Christ-Centered Spiritual Care in a Residential Setting, to Mothers Whose Children are Currently in Foster Care, Empowering Them to Rebuild & Reunite Their Families.” Our goal is to have a safe place for bio moms to come get the help they need. “Eve’s Restoration Home” has a desire to restore family units, while also pointing to the ultimate restoration that only God in Christ can do.

In conclusion, we cannot love God the same way He loves us. We can show our love for Him through our service and spreading of the Gospel. I pray that this inspires you in your faith walk, to serve others and to have a clear conscience. We need not worry about how much we love God; our faith in Christ says it all.