How to love God: It is easier than you think!!

I write this blog to impress upon your heart how God truly wants us to love Him. This was the clear message God repeatedly laid on my mind during meditation. 

You may have heard it said—or read in the Bible—that:

“To love God is to keep His commandments. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. (John 14:15, 21). Anyone who does not keep them but says they love God is a liar.” (Collerating  with 1 John, 4:20)

While this is true, I couldn’t help but think how difficult it is for someone to consistently track every commandment daily. Doing so can be daunting, and because it seems so tasking, many of us:

• Easily forget

• Make mistakes

• Or even make wilful decisions not to follow them – I.e. give up

Why? Because it starts to feel impossible to do or achieve.

The Rich Young Man’s Struggle

I absolutely love and commend the rich man in the Parable of the Rich Young Man (Matthew 19:16–28), as I understand his mental and spiritual struggle of being told that,

despite his hard work and diligence in keeping God’s commandments as given by Abraham, it is still not satisfactory or enough to get to heaven (vs 20).

I admire his effort, as I often ask myself if I can come to God boldly and say that I have kept all His commandments and He sees this to be true but still wants one more thing from me. 

I don’t think many of us keep all the commandments all our lives. There is always something that holds us back, and God may not only find one more task or fault in us but may find several. Unlike popular teaching or interpretations that I hear, I think this man was not being boastful of his righteousness but was rather seeking approval—that he had done well. Jesus gave him this approval but simply advised him on what was really withholding him from achieving full righteousness. This was his wealth, which I recognise to be a burden to his spiritual life. He probably didn’t know and thought Jesus was being mean.
 
 

To Love God Is More Than a Commandment

 
You see, God doesn’t want us to be burdened by His commandments but to see them as a guide to knowing Him and building a better relationship with Him. We don’t keep the commandments to receive applause from God, as I think the rich man in the parable anticipated Jesus would do but was disappointed. Keeping God’s commands should not be treated as an exam to test our spirituality but must be our expression of love for Him. Keeping the Ten Commandments and other commandments thereafter, I discovered, is actually easier than understood or imagined. The message is that God wants us to love Him—not just with words or outward obedience, but with genuine, committed, spirit-led love.

My “Spiritual Year” (2015–2017)

 
I would like to refer to a year I called my “Spiritual or Jesus Year.” Around 2015–2017, my yearning for God grew more and more, and I was fully committed to serving Him and practised my faith more diligently than I ever had before. In that year, I learnt or discovered that:

“The greatest commandment of God is not to love your neighbour but to love God and no other god—and that this god includes ourselves.”

Hence, it is the first commandment. When you truly love God, keeping the other commandments becomes second nature. He will awaken the spirit of love for your neighbour in the right manner, and this will stir love in them as well. It becomes the Spirit of God in you that shows God’s love in word, thought, and action to them. You actually don’t need to ask God to help your neighbour; rather, God will open your eyes to see how you can use your spiritual knowledge, gifts, and talents to help.

Additionally, when you love God, it becomes almost impossible to lie, gossip, be disobedient, steal, envy, or commit other wilful sins because your mind is preoccupied with the Holy Spirit. These other evils and negative spirits find no room to grow—unless you wilfully let them. Even then, your consciousness will not rest until you repent, confess your sin, and make a wilful and strong decision not to go back to those sins. When you keep this path, all your actions and thoughts will lead you to Christ, and you will begin to learn what it truly takes to love God.
 

So, How Do You Love God?

 
Before love, there must be faith, because you cannot love someone you don’t believe or trust. You must be united with Christ in body, mind, and spirit. You are baptised by faith, and love comes out of believing that the one you love is true and cares for you. True love is inspired, reflective, and develops naturally and with intention. It expresses confidence with the knowledge that the one it loves is the only one worthy of honour in its life.
 
In 1 Corinthians 13:4–8 (NIV), St Paul tells us:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

In the same way these Bible verses are used in church to teach us how to love one another, they should also be used to teach how to love God. When I was reflecting on the love of God, I asked in my mind and spirit:

“God, you have shown us how to love others, but how do we truly love you? Or how should you be loved?”

It was these verses that my spirit directed me to. God told me that He also requires us to love Him in the way Paul described.
 

To Love God Is to:

Be Patient: 

God wants us to be patient with Him, even when He is slow to act. Be patient in learning about Him when reading the Bible, praying, and especially in church. We shouldn’t be watching the clock for when the Mass ends but rather use that time to understand how each part of the Mass can direct us to Him.

Be Kind: 

God loves when we show Him kindness—when we speak words that make Him happy, feel encouraged, and reassure Him that He is still a good God. Like a parent, it makes Him feel good and motivates Him to do more, knowing we, His children, are happy with Him. He wants us to be forgiving and understanding of Him, especially when we feel the way He handles situations isn’t to our liking.

Not Boast or Be Proud of Ourselves: 

God wants us to boast only in Him and be proud to be His children. He loves to be glorified—especially when He answers our prayers.

Honour Him: 

God wants us to honour Him in word, thought, action, and with our bodies. All our actions should direct ourselves and others to Him. To honour God is also to not use His name in vain or for selfish gain. He also doesn’t want us to dishonour those who serve Him, especially those in leadership or who have taken the path of religious life.

Not Be Self-Seeking or Indulgent: 

This means putting Him first before ourselves. I must confess I struggle with this a lot—I often indulge in thoughts that don’t honour God. Even when I say “thank God” for my achievements, somewhere in my subconscious I praise myself. Many of us are guilty of this self-seeking love and praise, and we lose sight of whom we should be glorifying. It’s like when we sing and say, “Damn, I have a good voice,” instead of, “Thank God for giving me the gift of a voice to sing.”

Not Be Easily Angered or Keep Record of Wrongs: 

Oh, how easily we get angry with God for not answering our prayers the way we want! We hold this anger and make a mental list of unanswered prayers. Some of us even use it against Him—choosing to stop worshipping, lose faith, or even convince others that God isn’t real.

I am equally guilty. When I was in college and university, I had my period of doubt. Looking at my family’s situation, I felt God never answered our prayers—especially my mother’s, despite her years of devotion. I made a conscious decision to believe God loved and helped others, but not us. Unknowingly, I was angry with God and kept a record of what I saw as His unfairness and failure to my family. It took His grace to open my eyes to the other ways He had fulfilled our needs.

Not Delight in Evil but Rejoice in Truth:

 In today’s society—especially in the Western world—I find that many people delight when someone publicly denounces Jesus or leaves the Church. The media gives a platform to those who abandon their faith, but rarely do we hear of stories about people returning or remaining faithful. We gossip about evil more than we celebrate good. We even laugh when people mock Jesus’ name. We say we’re too weak to defend Him, too afraid of the consequences socially or at work.
 
These things hurt God. He wants us to love Him by shunning the evil done in His name. He wants us to protect, trust, hope, and persevere with Him. He wants us to restrain ourselves and ask for His help when we are tempted to speak ill of Him or commit sin against Him or His people. Just as we expect loyalty from those we love, He expects our love for Him not to fail or be hypocritical.

Conclusion

 
To love God is to do to Him as you want to be done to you. He repeatedly tells us that He cares for us. When He was angered and wanted to release His wrath on His people, we pleaded, and He relented—He forgave and blessed us in abundance.
 
God loves to be loved. He dwells in that love. That’s why, when King David danced so freely because of the victory God gave him, God rejoiced and danced with him. He blessed David even more and punished anyone who scolded him for it.
 
I hope you come to understand that loving God is not all about the commandments or keeping a checklist of good deeds to prove yourself worthy. To love God is to be intentional—to believe, trust, care, and always commit to serving Him. Loving God begins with how you love yourself and the person dearest to you. All God wants is to be that person—the dearest to you above all creation—and to see you show it.
 
Until the next blog, remain in the love of God. Reflect on His love, and He will show you how to love Him.

With love,

Ogechi

(A.K.A. Talkinsen – talking sense into spiritual life)