Discover how to love God, when things are not going well

The scripture expresses that God loves us with eternal, unmatched and true love. It is a love that is not conditioned by the love that can be born from the human being. On the contrary, we love him because God first loved us. Learn in the next post how to love God, when things are not going well.

How to love God?

The Pharisees and so-called experts once regularly tried to entice Jesus with a few questions. In any case, others asked him real questions as they searched for answers.

There is an investigation that was raised twice by two different individuals, one who needed to learn and the other who just needed to attract it. It is the issue of which rule is the best of all. See: Old Testament.

“Moreover, one of them, a translator of the law, requested to attract him, saying: Master, what is the extraordinary rule in the law? Jesus said to him: You shall love the Lord your God with all that is in you, and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and extraordinary commandment.” Matthew 22: 35-38

“Addressing one of the experts, who had heard them question and realized that he had reacted well, he asked: What is the first decree of all? Jesus answered: The main rule of all is: Hear, Israel; the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Also, you shall love the Lord your God with all that is in you, and with all your being, and with all your mind and energetically. This is the main load.” Mark 12: 28-30

 What does it mean?

Worshiping and loving God with all our being is the most significant decree. Surprisingly, we live in an age where the word love has come to prominence with only one slant. Loving someone is confused with “I like it”. In any case, someone “enjoying me” does not really establish love in biblical terms.

Since, in biblical terms, love is firmly associated with explicitly doing and worshiping God with what God needs, that is, his commandments, his will. Jesus made this completely unmistakable when he said, “In case you worship me, keep my precepts.” John 14:15

What’s more:

“He who has my precepts and keeps them is he who loves me; and whoever appreciates me will be adored by my Father, and I will love him and show myself to him. Judas said to him he replied: Lord, how can it be that you show it to us and not to the world? Jesus answered and said:

Whoever values ​​me will maintain my affirmation; and my Father will love him, and we will go to him, and we will remain with him. He who does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you have heard is not mine, yet from the Father who sent me.” John 14:21-24 (See: New Testament )

Similarly in Deuteronomy 5:8-10

“You shall not worship your form, nor any image of whatever is in heaven above, or under the earth, or in the waters under the earth. You will not bow down to them or serve them; since I am Jehovah your God, solid, desirous, who visit the malevolence of fathers on young people until the third and fourth age of the people who hate me, and who indulge thousands, the people who appreciate and maintain me my edicts. “

Love God and keep his commandments: the Word of God, which are things indistinguishable from each other. Jesus made it totally clear. Whoever appreciates it keeps the Word of God and whoever does not keep the Word of God does not love it! So appreciating God, the top job, doesn’t mean he makes me feel great sitting in the congregation seat on Sunday morning.

Or maybe what it means is that I try to do what pleases God, what pleases the father. Besides, that’s a daily affair.

“We appreciate him, since he loved us first. In case someone says: I appreciate God and hate his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how could he love God whom he has not seen? Furthermore, we have this decree from him: He who worships God loves his brother also.” 1 John 5:2-3

“In this we realize that we appreciate the offspring of God, when we worship God, and keep his precepts. Because this is affection for God, that we keep the decrees of him; and the decrees of him are not problematic”. 1 John 3:22-23.

“What’s more, whatever we ask of him we will get from him, as we keep his rules and do things that satisfy him before him. Furthermore, this is his charge: that we trust for the sake of his Son, Jesus Christ, and that we cherish one another as he has instructed us. Furthermore, he who keeps his rule abides in God, and God in him. By this we realize that he abides in us, by the Spirit which he has given us.”

There are some deceptions for Christianity today. An intense one is the false thought that God does not care if we do his edicts, his will. According to this misrepresentation, the only thing that is in any way important to God is that minute when we begin with “trust.” “Trust” and “loving God” have been isolated from functional problems and are considered certain hypothetical ideas, mental states, that exist independently of what one lives.

In any case, trust means to be devoted! What is more, the loyal one is concerned with satisfying the one who is loyal, that is, he is concerned with doing his will, his precepts.

Something different that ends up being evident from the above is that the worship and support of God is not really restrictive, similar to how some have made us accept. We also saw this in previous chapters. At that point in John 14:23 we read:

“Jesus answered and said to him:” If someone appreciates me, he will keep my affirmation; and my Father will love him, and we will go to him, and make him our home. ” John 14:23

“Furthermore, whatever we ask of you we will get, as we keep your instructions and do things that satisfy you.” 1 John 3:22.

“You will not bow down to them or serve them; since I am Jehovah your God, solid, willing, who visit the malice of the parents on the children until the third and fourth age of the people who hate me, and that I give kindness to thousands, to the people who appreciate me and keep my edicts.” Deuteronomy 5:9-10

In John 14:23 there is an “if” and an “and”. In the event that someone worships Jesus, he will keep his Word, and, therefore, the Father will love him and He, together with his Son, will come and stay in him. Similarly, in 1 John, we get what we ask for, because we keep his instructions and do what pleases him.

Similarly, in Deuteronomy, God’s tolerant love appears to people who love and keep his rules. There is a reasonable sinew between worship and support of God in doing his will. To put it another way, what if we don’t imagine that ignoring God, regardless of his Word and his accusations, generally doesn’t make a difference, since God would love us anyway?

What if we don’t believe that way, when we declare that we worship God we really appreciate it? Except that in case we worship God or it does not show itself answering the basic question that goes with it: Do we do what pleases God, his Word, his decrees? In the event that the appropriate answer is truly, at that moment we worship God. In case the appropriate answer is no, at that moment we do not love him. It’s that simple.

“If someone appreciates me, he will keep my statement; …He who does not love me does not keep my words…” John 14:23-24

Another area of ​​confusion, regarding doing God’s will, is the possibility that we should do God’s will just by chance if we feel it. In any case, in case we don’t feel it, at that moment we mourn the fact that obviously God wouldn’t need us to accomplish something we don’t feel like doing.

In any case, tell me something: would you say you’ve been getting down to business since you felt it? Do you wake up in the first part of the day reflecting on how you feel to get down to business and trusting whether or not you feel it prevents you from lying down and spreading out with your sheet? Is that how you do it? I do not think so. You go about your business with little attention to how you feel about it.

In any case, with regard to doing God’s will, we have given a lot of emotions. Obviously, God needs us to do his will, however, regardless of whether we don’t feel like it, it’s much better to do it anyway. A case of what the Lord let us know: “And if your eye is the case of falling off, pluck it out and throw it away from you…” (Matthew 18:9).

He didn’t say, “And if your eye is an event for you to drop down and feel it, then do it. Be that as it may, in case you don’t handle it, that spot is afflicted, since you don’t feel it, you can leave it there causing it to continue to err.” The damaged eye must be removed, regardless of whether we feel it or not, do it in any way you need, rather than ignore it.

Be that as it may, we should take a look at another model in Matthew. In Matthew 21, the devout clergymen turned to Jesus once more. To address one such question, Jesus gave the accompanying illustration:

“Be that as it may, what do you think? A man had two children and, going to elementary school, he said: Son, go work today in my vineyard. Reacting he said: I don’t need; but at that moment, sorry, it was. Also, approaching the other, he said in a similar manner, and pointing out that he said: Yes, sir, I’m coming. Matthew 21: 28-31

Besides, it definitely wasn’t. Which of the two made her father’s wish? he declared: The first. Jesus said to them: Truly, I tell you, tax collectors and prostitutes are going before you into the kingdom of God.”

Your answer was correct. The main boy did not feel the father’s desire for him. Without a doubt, he let her know: he would prefer not to go to the vineyard today. In any case, at that moment he considered it and altered his perspective. He doesn’t realize what caused that change… He reflected on his father. He heard that his father asked him to do his will, however, he did not want to do it.

He needed to rest a bit more, drink his coffee gradually or maybe hang out with his mates. At that moment, his first response, perhaps from the bed, was “I will not go.” But then he considered his father and claiming that he liked him, he altered his perspective, got up and proceeded to do what his father needed him to do.

The subsequent boy, again, said to his father, perhaps also officially upstairs: “Father, I am leaving.” But then he turned bad, he went back to rest, at which point he called a partner and disappeared doing what he needed.

Possibly for a minute he “felt” doing his father’s bidding, however, feelings travel in all directions. At that point, that “feeling” of doing God’s will was supplanted by another “feeling” of something other than expected and never was again.

Which of these two children did his father’s wish? The person who didn’t feel it early on, though, who did it the way he would have preferred it, or the person who felt it early on, but usually didn’t? The appropriate answer is obvious.

Actually, we have seen that appreciating the Father means doing his will. In this sense, we could ask the companion: Which of the two adored his father? o With which of the two was the father satisfied? With the person who from the beginning revealed to him that he would do his bidding and then didn’t, or with the person who really did his bidding? The appropriate response is clearly the equivalent: with the person who did his bidding.

At that point ending: Do God’s will, paying little attention to emotions. Regardless of whether the main answer is “I’m not sorry to learn it”, change your perspective and do it. Obviously, believing in doing God’s will and doing it is greatly improved, but between not doing the Father’s will and doing it without needing to, the choice assumption here is: I’ll do my father’s wish anyway, since I appreciate it and I need to satisfy it.

The night in Gethsemane

Currently, the foregoing does not imply that we cannot or should not go to the Father and ask for other possible options. Our association with the Father is a genuine relationship. The Lord needs the channels of correspondence with his young workers constantly open.

What happened in Gethsemane the night Jesus was led away to be killed was a trademark. Jesus was in the nursery with his followers and Judas, the trickster, joined the devout clergy workers and the elderly to capture Jesus and kill him.

Jesus was in desolation. I would have liked the chance to give that glass of his a chance to sail. Furthermore, he asked the Father:

“Also, he got a little bit away from them, like a short distance; and on his knees he begged him, saying: Father, if you like it, pass me this cup; however, my will is not done, but yours. Furthermore, a holy messenger from paradise seemed to fortify it. Furthermore, being distressed, he implored more strongly; and it was the perspiration from him like unbelievable drops of blood that fell to the ground.” Luke 22: 41-44

There is nothing wrong with asking if there are any exit plans. There’s nothing wrong with asking if you can stay home today and not go to the vineyard. What is happening is staying at home anyway and without asking. That is insubordination.

In any case, it is not horrible to ask for a special case or another option. To tell the truth, if there is no other way, you can get a rare inspiration to go ahead and do his will, Jesus got such an inspiration: “And a blessed messenger from paradise seemed to fortify it.”

Jesus would have needed the cup to leave Him, but only if that was God’s will. What’s more, all things considered, it didn’t. Furthermore, Jesus recognized him. As he told Pedro after Judas touched base with the Guardian organization:

“Jesus at that moment said to Peter: put your sword in the sheath; the cup that the Father has given me, would it be advisable for me not to drink it?” John 18:11

Jesus constantly did what pleased the Father, regardless of whether he didn’t feel it. Furthermore, therefore, on the grounds that he generally did so, the Father never ignored him. As he said: “For the one who sent me is with me; the Father has not ignored me, as I usually do what he likes.”

He is our model. As the witness Paul further lets us know in Philippians:

“Therefore let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant. , made in the likeness of men; and being in the condition of a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, and death on a cross. Philippians 2:5-11

Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth. Earth; and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Esaud got out. He said, “Your will and not mine be done.” Jesus fulfilled!

Furthermore, we must do the same. A similar reasoning, a similar fulfillment, the mind that says not my will, but yours, is also in us. As Paul goes on:

“Later, my beloved, as you have always fulfilled, not as in my quality, but much more now in my non-appearance, participate in your salvation with fear and trembling, since God is the person who in this way delivers the will and the do, because of his positive attitude.” Philippians 2: 12-13

“In this way, my beloved ones”, that is, on the basis that we have a case of submission, Jesus Christ our Lord, let us additionally comply with the treatment of our salvation with fear and trembling of God, is to act in us the will to do whatever we can for your cooperative attitude. As James says:

“Be that as it may, he gives more beauty. This is why he says: God opposes the joyful and offers effortlessly to the humble. Present yourselves on this line to God; oppose the fallen angel, and he will escape from you. . Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Malefactors, wash your hands; otherwise you will be doubly disapproved, he filters your hearts. Be overwhelmed, afflicted and sob. Your laugh ends up crying and your euphoria in distress. Humble yourself before you humble yourself. Jehovah, and he will magnify you.” James 4: 6-10

Loving the Lord with each of our souls is the most important instruction. Be that as it may, loving God is not, where we “feel delighted” with God. Loving God is equivalent to doing what God needs. There is nothing like worshiping God while simultaneously ignoring him. There is nothing like being trusting and being unfaithful. Confidence is not a perspective.

Trust in God and his Word must be dedicated to God and his Word. We do not make the paradox that you try to isolate one thing from the other. Likewise, God’s affection and support for him returns to people who appreciate him, that is, to people who do what he pleases, his will. In addition, we also see that it is smarter to go ahead and do God’s will, regardless of whether we don’t feel it, than to ignore it.

This does not make us robots without feelings. We can (should) turn to the Lord and ask for another option to give it to us. He is the most magnificent teacher of all, indulgent and great with his children. Furthermore, if there is no other elective, He will strengthen us to do what seems to be extremely difficult for us, just as he did with Jesus that night.

The love of God changes human nature, it is a surprising transformation that we experience, it is like a special blanket of joy and love that is placed over us that inexplicably changes even the way in which we address our neighbor. things do not always come easily, but loving God drives us to be better people in a society that is hungry to find genuine and true feelings, unfortunately the world only offers them a momentary pleasure, but the love of God in the heart of the man does it different.

We are the helpers of God in this dark world, the evil of each human being hardens his heart and does not allow him to see his neighbor with eyes of love, that is why the love of God is something that has to be lodged in the man’s heart, he has to change his nature, he has to renew his way of thinking, he has to break hardened feelings and awaken new reactions, so that through the full eyes of someone who loves God, much can be contributed to a society that is constantly in charge of minimizing God, denying him and not accepting his grace.

The apostle John says, in this we know God, that if we love him, we will love our neighbor, being obedient to what God established as a principle, makes us truly demonstrate if we respect his commandments and apply them, it cannot be said that one loves God and hates one’s neighbor, there can be no such contradiction.

How to love God, is a question that we must constantly ask ourselves, above all, because by living in God his word is in us, and his love makes us free, the most genuine way to show that we love God is by loving our neighbor , being quick to forgive, loving our enemies, being compassionate, merciful, pious, honest, reciprocal, generous.

God is strong, powerful, self-existent, slow to anger, great in mercy, he is a God who is essentially love, his nature is love, there is no love outside of him, that is why every human being has to include him in his life, allow it in, there is no genuine and true freedom outside of God. Each person is the reflection of God himself, is the perfect scheme of his creation.