Some Thoughts on Love

The Christian’s love for God involves our duty to Him, that is, the Christian responds to the Lord’s merciful love by seeking to obey Him in all things.  Believers should have such a deep sense of the majesty of God, and such an esteem of His favor, that they would never endanger it by doing anything that displeases Him.  Doing something that would dishonor God’s name is abhorrent to believers.  All their desire is to sincerely endeavor to please, honor, and enjoy Him.  The Scripture commands us to love God above all things and with our whole hearts.  We are also commanded to love other people, especially fellow believers.  But it is worth noting that there is no explicit command to love ourselves.  The Bible assumes we will do so.  There are many laws that restrain self-love, seeking to put limits on it, but there are none that command it.  Self-love is a part of our nature and can become self-destructive if it is not moderated.  Only love for God can be safely pursued with no limits.  We can never love God too much.  All of the instruction in the Bible concerning self-love is intended to moderate and direct it for God’s glory and our benefit.