How do we love God?

There is a story in Luke 7, verses 36-50 that tell how Jesus was invited to the home of a Pharisee to eat. This incident is also mentioned in Matthew 26: 6-13 and Mark 14: 3-9.

The version in the gospel of Luke is longer and more detailed. Jesus had been invited to the home of a Pharisee called “Simon the leper.” While there, a woman expressly stated to be a sinner, began to wash Jesus’ feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. Afterwards, she began to anoint His feet with fragrant oil from an alabaster box. The Pharisee host inwardly criticized this display, thinking to himself, “If this man, Jesus, was really a prophet, He would know this woman touching Him was a sinner.” Jesus, knowing the Pharisee’s thoughts, told him a parable:

Luke 7:41 “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii (one hundred weeks worth of wages), and the other fifty (ten weeks worth of wages). 42. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?” 43. Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He (Jesus) said to him, “You have rightly judged.” 47. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”

It appears that the act of showing love is what allowed this woman’s sins to be forgiven. She never confessed anything, she never made any promises. She showed her love and her sins were forgiven. Sometimes when we read the command throughout the Bible that we are to love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, and minds, it almost seems like such a harsh command: Deuteronomy 6:5 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Jesus actually calls this the greatest commandment in exchange with a lawyer in Matthew 22.

Matthew 22: 35 Then one of them, (one of the Pharisees), a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36. Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” 37. Jesus said to him, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” 38. This is the first and great commandment. 39. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”  See Mark 12:28-31 and Luke 10:25-28 for their accounts of this exchange.

This command isn’t harsh at all when you consider that God has provided the way for us to love Him: It is to receive the great love He has for us!

 1 John 4:10 tells us that “ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Verse 19 in that same chapter says, “We love God because He first loved us.” Max Lucado wrote in (in Today’s Word, March 14, 2014), “The love of God is born within Him, not from what we find in us.”

Yet, I want to love God with all my heart, with all my soul, with my entire mind both in response to His great love for me and because of who He is. He is the sovereign creator of the universe. He holds the planets, the galaxies, and the seasons. He created man from the dust of the ground and breathed life into us.  How do I separate loving God for what He does from loving God for who He is? When I list who God is to me, the list is almost indistinguishable from what God does for me. He is my redeemer, my Father, my healer, my savior, my friend, my provider, and my protector. Because God is high above us, we can’t show Him love the way we would show love to a friend or family member, say by buying them a gift or doing them a favor. We can only express our love through praise and worship and submit ourselves to Him so that we can receive more of His attributes. Going back to the woman with the alabaster box in Luke 7, she showed her love and her sins were forgiven. Conversely, her sins were forgiven because she showed love. Her tears showed her genuine repentance and adoration. Her anointing Jesus with the expensive perfume was her praise and adoration.