The Ultimate Love: Choosing God Above All Else

What Do You Really Love Most?

Have you ever stopped to consider what you really love most? I'm not talking about the superficial things that we might enjoy, like watching a movie or eating our favorite dessert. I'm talking about the deep desires of our hearts, the things that we pursue with all our energy and passion. What is it that we truly love above all else?

As Christians, we know that our ultimate love should be for God. Jesus himself said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37). But do our lives reflect this reality? Do we really love God above all else? Or have we allowed other loves to take his place?

The Danger of Loving Other Things

It's easy to love things that are not God. We live in a world that is full of distractions and temptations, and our hearts are prone to wander. We might love money, success, pleasure, or power. We might love our families, our friends, or our hobbies. We might love ourselves. These things are not necessarily bad in themselves, but when they become the objects of our ultimate love, they can lead us away from God.

Jesus warned us about the dangers of loving other things when he said, "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money" (Matthew 6:24). When we love something more than God, we are essentially making it our master. We are putting it in the place of God, and we are idolizing it.

The Bible is full of examples of people who loved other things more than God. Adam and Eve loved the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil more than they loved their obedience to God (Genesis 3). The Israelites loved their idols more than they loved the God who had rescued them from slavery in Egypt (Judges 2:11-13). Solomon loved his many wives more than he loved God, and this led him astray (1 Kings 11:1-6). The list could go on and on.

When we love other things more than God, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment and disillusionment. Nothing in this world can ultimately satisfy us because we were created to find our satisfaction in God. As Augustine famously said, "Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee."

The Beauty of Loving God Most

So what does it look like to love God above all else? It means that we make him the ultimate object of our affection and devotion. We seek to know him intimately, to obey him joyfully, and to glorify him in all that we do. We recognize that he is the source of all true joy, peace, and fulfillment, and we find our satisfaction in him alone.

When we love God most, we are free from the tyranny of other loves. We are no longer enslaved to the pursuit of wealth, power, or pleasure. We are no longer controlled by our own selfish desires. Instead, we are able to love others selflessly, because our love for God spills over into our love for them.

Loving God most also means that we are able to endure suffering and hardship with faith and hope. When we face trials and tribulations, we can cling to the promise that God is with us and that he is working all things together for our good (Romans 8:28). We can trust in his goodness, his wisdom, and his sovereignty, even when we don't understand what he is doing.

The Call to Love God Most

So how do we love God most? It starts with a recognition of our own sinfulness and a repentance of our idolatry. We must confess our love for other things and ask God to forgive us and to help us love him more. We must also spend time getting to know God through his word and through prayer. We must meditate on his character, his attributes, and his works, and allow our hearts to be transformed by his love.

Jesus said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" (John 14:15). Loving God most means that we obey him joyfully, not out of a sense of obligation or legalism, but out of a deep love and gratitude for all that he has done for us. It means that we seek to glorify him in all that we do, whether we eat or drink or whatever we do (1 Corinthians 10:31).

The call to love God most is not an easy one. It requires sacrifice, discipline, and a willingness to let go of other loves. But it is also a beautiful and rewarding journey. When we love God most, we experience the joy and peace that can only come from him. We are able to live our lives with purpose and meaning, knowing that we are fulfilling the very reason for which we were created.

Conclusion

So what do you really love most? As we enter into this new year, let's take some time to reflect on our own loves and ask God to help us love him above all else. Let's seek to know him more deeply, to obey him more joyfully, and to glorify him in all that we do. Let's make him the ultimate object of our affection and devotion, and experience the beauty and joy of loving God most.

References

• Matthew 22:37


• Matthew 6:24


• Genesis 3


• Judges 2:11-13


• 1 Kings 11:1-6


• Romans 8:28


• John 14:15


• 1 Corinthians 10:31