For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16 NKJV
Gary Chapman wrote a book called the Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate. The book was first published in 1992 and has sold over 11 million copies. Many other versions of the book have also been published, and it was translated into 49 other languages.
Gary Chapman is a Baptist pastor who wrote the book based on his counseling with couples. The book is designed to help us understand how we give and receive love.
It has become a catchphrase with people often saying, “That’s my love language” or “That’s their love language.”
I don’t think any verse captures God’s love language any better than John 3:16. He gave His only Son to die for us while we were miserable sinners. As unrepentant sinners, we are His enemy. Yet still He gave His Son to die for us so we could believe in Him and be saved. The only way we can repay this awesome gift is to devote our lives to Him.
As I sit here writing this, I still can’t wrap my head around it all. God offered this precious gift of salvation even to the worst sinners like you and me. We don’t have to clean up first, we simply have to believe. We have to trust in Him.
What is your love language? How do you give love? How do you show your love to God? I ask these questions because Jesus told us in God’s Holy Word how he evaluates our love for Him. He said in John 15:10, If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
Jesus went on to say in verses 13-14, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command.”
God gives His love to us through the ultimate sacrifice of His Son. Only Jesus’ blood can wash our sins away.
He receives our love through our obedience, not partial, half-hearted obedience, but a whole-hearted commitment.
In 1 Samuel 15 verse 3, God commanded King Saul through the prophet Samuel to attack and destroy the Amalekites. He specifically commanded him to leave no one alive and kill all animals as well. Saul attacked the Amalekites but brought the king out alive and also some of their finest animals. When Samuel confronted Saul about why he did this, Saul said he intended to sacrifice these animals to the Lord.
Samuel told Saul in verse 22 that to obey God is better than sacrifice.
God showed His love to us through sending His Son to die on the cross and save us from our sins.
The only way we can show our love to Him is through obedience. We can sacrifice money and time, but He still wants obedience. When we trust in the Lord and obey Him, we want to sacrifice to Him through giving and serving. We don’t give and serve to avoid obeying.
We know what God’s love language is to us. We understand that He gave the ultimate sacrifice to provide a way for us to be with Him for eternity.
We have the choice to accept or reject His awesome gift. We must choose to receive the love He offers even though we don’t deserve it. We must make a choice to obey His commands and prove our love for Him.
We know how God showed His love for us. His word tells us how He expects us to show our love for Him. Are you showing your love to Him through obedience?
Have you received His gift? His gift has a limited time offer. None of us know when the offer will expire. I pray that you receive His great love for you and show your love to Him through obeying His commands.
Have a great day!