Thinwithin.org

Oh, To Love Him More!

by | May 17, 2011 | Blog | 0 comments

“You are different from me. You love God. I have never loved God,” came the candid disclosure from one who embraces the gospel message, has studied and taught the truths of the Word, and shepherded God’s people.

“Do you want to love God?”

“Well, sure.”

From where I sit, wanting to love God more proves that you love God! Maybe not as much as you like, but if you really didn’t love God, then you wouldn’t care if you love him or not. Or that makes sense to me.

Image provided by istockphoto.com

Can you identify with this honest Christian’s confession? Perhaps you know you love the Lord, but long to love Him even more.

Here are three things that continue to make a huge difference in my life, causing me to grow in my love for my Savior. I hope they might help you:

1.) I ask God to put a greater love for Him in my heart. 

Years ago, as I watched a Beth Moore video, she admitted that she had prayed this prayer frequently after observing the love a friend/mentor displayed for the Lord. She longed to love the Lord that way.  It certainly seems to have worked for Beth–she is clearly crazy about God! So I began to pray this…not every day, but on and off. I still do.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: 
that if we ask anything according to his will, 
he hears us.  
And if we know that he hears us
—whatever we ask—
we know that we have what we asked of him.  
~ 1 John 5:14-15

God commands us to love Him (Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37). If we pray according to His will, we know that He hears us and will grant it to us…so, praying for a deepening of my love for the Lord seems like a sure thing! 🙂 I like that kind of prayer!

2.) I look at my sin and acknowledge the incredible, extravagant price paid for my forgiveness and freedom from sin.

Some people don’t want to look at the things that they have “done wrong.” Certainly, I don’t mean beating myself up over it, but I DO mean refusing to be in denial or glossing over my sin. I am keenly aware that apart from the Lord in my life, I would even NOW become a VERY immoral woman. I would make Mary Magdalene look saintly. SmileyCentral.com

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, 
“Do you see this woman? I came into your house. 
You did not give me any water for my feet, 
but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.  
You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, 
has not stopped kissing my feet.  
You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.  
Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—
as her great love has shown. 
But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
~ Luke 7:44-47

 

Mary was deeply aware of the depths to which Jesus’ love and mercy reached to pull her out of the pit where she lived. Jesus says that the one who has been forgiven much, loves much. Frankly, we all have been forgiven much, but many of us “forget” that fact! Nurturing an awareness of what Jesus has forgiven in me is huge for me in stimulating a deeper devotion and appreciation for Him.

This, too, is something I ask the Lord for–to help me to see myself as He does–the sin *and* the provision for the sin, as well as the costly price paid for my freedom. As I look at what I was before I knew Jesus, the path I was on and what I was likely to become, as I see even daily how much my heart is drawn away from the Lord and that I constantly am in need of His grace and mercy, as I see what I would be if I was given over to my own fleshly tendencies–even for a day–I am deeply grateful for all He does for me. This stirs me to love the Lord even more.

3.) I listen to music (and sermons) that reminds me again and again of the attributes, acts, and love of my God and my love for Him.  

 I know that a lot of Christian people don’t like Christian music. I need Christian music. A lot. It is used by God as a lifeline to His presence for me. Music that specifically reminds me of the truth of God’s personality, His kindness, His power, His creativity, awesomeness, love…this focuses my attention on whatever is lovely, good, noble true (Philippians 4:8) and helps to foster a deep love for Him as well. I love it when I wake up in the night and have songs going through my mind that praise the Lord for who He is. Some of the songs on my favorite playlist on my iPod right now are:
  • Nothing Without You – Bebo Norman
  • Song for the Bride – Brian Doerksen
  • You’re Beautiful – Phil Wickham
  • Pour My Love on You – Philips, Craig, and Dean
  • King of Wonders – Matt Redman

Obviously, being in His Word and getting to know Him more, fostering an ongoing prayer life…these things are wonderfully helpful as well. 

One other thing that has revolutionized my love for God is practicing gratitude. I have written about that here at length before, though. (If you want to see those posts, use the search feature to type in the word “gratitude” and you will see a bunch of posts that mention gratitude.)


How does loving God more relate to my views of food, eating, and my body? Simply, the more I grow in my devotion to the Lord, the less likely I am to retain anything for myself. I want to give myself away to Him for His purposes. I turn to Him to be more than enough and see that He meets me in my hunger and thirst. I don’t want to rebel by choosing excess in any area of my life. The more I love Him, the more I want to obey Him as an offering to Him (John 14:23).

There really does seem to be a lot of truth in the concept that if we continue to struggle to surrender our eating to the Lord, maybe we need to focus on deepening our knowledge of Him, His character and loving Him. As our love deepens, we want to abandon ourselves to Him…including in the area of eating. Maybe I get caught up in obedience in a legalistic way when what I need to do is be captivated by His love, His character and love Him in response. Somehow, I think that as I grow in that, the obedience may be more likely to follow.

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