Do You Really Love God?

Someone came to Jesus asking, ‘Which is the first of all the commandments?‘ Jesus replied, ‘Loving God with your everything and loving your neighbor as yourself‘ – (Mark 12:28b-34).

Jesus summed up the Bible, Christianity, and spirituality into love of God and neighbor. No commandment is greater than these.

If I ask you, ‘Do you love God?‘ You would obviously say, ‘Yes!’ But God is spirit, and it’s challenging to measure your love for Him. The only realistic way to gauge your love for God is by how you treat other human beings, created in God’s image. As John said,

He who says he loves God and hates his fellow brother or sister is a liar. For if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God whom we cannot see? – (1 John 4:20).

Jesus also said,

Love for neighbor is worth more than offering all the burnt sacrifices and offerings required in the law – (Mark 13:33b)

So, you can be a bishop, priest, pastor, catechist, choir master, civil servant, politician – you can spend hours praying, fasting, worshipping, attending church all day, and performing religious rituals. However, if you aren’t treating your brother or sister with kindness and justice, your spirituality is faulty.

We are told that whenever Moses encountered the Lord, he came back with his face shining (Exodus 34:29). Whenever we encounter the Divine through worship or religious acts, we should become more like the Divine, exhibiting values like love, mercy, forgiveness, hope, and peace. If you encounter God and are the opposite of these values, your spirituality is faulty.

There’s a big question mark on your Christianity if you aren’t kind, forgiving, and just. Do you exploit people? Do you give them their due? Do you backbite, defame, destroy, and assassinate characters? These are the parameters we use to measure your love for neighbor.

As 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 states,

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud, boastful, or rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

When I look at the church today and see haters, backbiters, evil men and women thriving, I ask, ‘Where is our God?‘ We have reached a stage where we are relegating God to the background, prioritizing position, power, fame, material things, and ego over the principle of love.

Our structures can lead us astray; men and women in religious power can lead us astray. That’s why our fidelity must first be to the word of God (love of God and love of neighbor) and the propelling of gospel values like love, mercy, forgiveness, hope, and peace.

When you love God completely and care for others as you care for yourself, you are keeping God’s commandments. He will give you long life, and you will grow, prosper, and inherit a land flowing with milk and honey.

So, let me ask you again, ‘Do you love God?‘ If you think you do, then let’s see it translate into how you treat others.