Love is one of the deepest forces in human experience, but when Scripture speaks of love, it takes us beyond anything ordinary. Biblical love is not casual or convenient; it is consuming. It does not simply touch the surface of our emotions—it shakes the very core of who we are. To love God is not to sprinkle affection on top of an otherwise unchanged life, but to yield ourselves fully to Him, heart, soul, mind, and strength. As Jesus 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).
This love is never left vague in Scripture. It takes shape in real, practical ways. It confesses Christ openly, repents sincerely of sin, and submits in obedience. It is proven not in lip service but in wholehearted devotion. And it finds its truest example at the cross, where Christ loved with perfect obedience and total sacrifice.
John reminds us, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). God loved us first—fully and undeservingly. The question is how we will love Him in return. Will it be with shallow words and reluctant obedience, or with the kind of love that mirrors Christ Himself?
Love Beyond Lip Service
It is possible to claim love for God while living in ways that deny Him. Jesus warned of this very danger: “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8). Words of devotion may sound convincing, but without a heart surrendered to God, they are hollow.
Confession is certainly part of loving God. Scripture tells us, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Yet this confession is more than repeating a formula; it must be joined with genuine faith and a transformed life. The danger lies in confessing Christ with the lips while withholding the heart. Jesus Himself said, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” (Luke 6:46).
True confession is not simply stating what we believe—it is declaring allegiance. It is saying, “Jesus is Lord,” and then living in a way that demonstrates He truly is Lord of our lives. When confession is real, it leads to surrender. When it is empty, it leaves us unchanged.
The early church understood this well. Their confession of Christ often cost them friends, family, livelihood, and even life itself. To say “Jesus is Lord” meant Caesar was not. It meant obedience to Christ came before all else. Such confession was not lip service; it was a pledge of loyalty, sealed by their very lives.
This is the kind of confession God desires from us—not words spoken lightly, but words that flow from faith, devotion, and obedience. Anything less is merely lip service, and lip service will not stand before the Lord who searches the heart.
Obedience as the Test of Love
Jesus tied love and obedience together in the clearest of terms: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Love is not proven by words alone but by the willingness to listen and to do what He says. This is why John could later write, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). Obedience is not the enemy of love; it is its very expression.
But not all obedience is the same. Some obey reluctantly, doing just enough to quiet the conscience. This kind of obedience looks for loopholes, delays action, or treats God’s word as negotiable. It is obedience in form, but not in spirit. The prophet Isaiah described this problem long before Jesus’ day: “This people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me” (Isaiah 29:13).
True obedience flows from the heart. It is the natural fruit of love, just as a healthy tree bears good fruit. Jesus said, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love” (John 15:10). His own life shows us that obedience is not lifeless duty but the pathway into deeper fellowship with God.
When love is at the center, obedience shifts from drudgery to delight. The psalmist declared, “I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8). This is not the cry of someone checking boxes—it is the song of one whose heart beats in rhythm with God’s will. Obedience becomes not only what we do, but who we are.
Lackluster obedience cannot sustain us, but love-fueled obedience transforms us. It teaches us to trust when we don’t see the outcome, to surrender when our will clashes with His, and to persevere when faith is costly. Jesus did not obey halfway, nor should we. If we truly love Him, our lives will testify through consistent, wholehearted submission to His word.
The Cross as the Measure of Love
If we want to know what love looks like, we must look to Calvary. The world defines love in many ways, but the cross gives us the clearest picture: “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Jesus’ love was not selective, waiting until we were worthy. It was sacrificial, given when we were most unworthy.
At the cross we see both love and obedience perfectly united. Jesus said, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38). That obedience cost Him everything. He endured rejection, humiliation, and unimaginable suffering. Yet He remained faithful: “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8). His obedience was not halfway—it was to the fullest extent possible.
This sacrificial love sets the standard for our response. We are not called to a faith of convenience, but to a love that mirrors Christ’s own. As John wrote, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” (1 John 3:16). The cross shows us that love is not primarily about emotion but about costly action.
It also teaches us that obedience without love misses the heart, and love without obedience is incomplete. At Calvary, Jesus loved perfectly by obeying perfectly. He did not say He loved the Father and then refuse the cup of suffering. Instead, He prayed, “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). That prayer captures the essence of biblical love—surrender to God’s will even when it demands sacrifice.
When we look at the cross, we are not only reminded of how deeply we are loved but also how we are called to love in return. To love God is to take up our cross daily (Luke 9:23), following the path of self-denial and trust. It is to measure our devotion not by convenience, but by willingness to lay down everything for the One who laid down everything for us.
Love that Confesses, Repents, and Follows
Loving God is not vague or undefined. It is not left to whatever each person feels in their heart. God has shown us how love takes shape in practical ways—through confession, repentance, and faithful obedience.
Confession is the starting point. Paul writes, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). To confess Christ is to declare that He is Lord—not only with words, but with loyalty. It is to take our stand with Him publicly, even when the world rejects Him. Confession is both an admission of faith and an act of allegiance.
Repentance naturally follows. Jesus declared, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). Repentance is more than sorrow; it is a change of mind that leads to a change of life. It is turning away from sin and toward God. A heart that loves Him cannot remain comfortable in rebellion against Him. Love grieves what grieves God, and it longs to walk in His ways.
That repentance is sealed in baptism, where we are united with Christ. As Peter preached, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). Baptism is not an empty ritual but a demonstration of love and surrender. It is the moment when faith is expressed in obedient trust, and God’s promise of forgiveness is received. Paul describes it this way: “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).
Love confesses, repents, and follows. Each step is a response to God’s love for us—a way of saying, not with lips only but with life, “I belong to Christ.”
A Call to Wholehearted Love
All of this leads to a simple but searching question: do we love God with all that we are? Jesus gave the greatest commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). God does not ask for half-hearted devotion or occasional attention. He calls for the whole of us—our thoughts, desires, choices, and strength.
Anything less risks becoming an empty religion. We may say the right words, perform outward duties, or keep up appearances, but without wholehearted love, we miss the heart of the gospel. Paul warned of those who “have the appearance of godliness, but deny its power” (2 Timothy 3:5). A lackluster obedience and a divided heart leave us far from the God who calls us.
But wholehearted love is life-giving. Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). When we surrender to Him in love, our obedience comes alive. Our worship becomes genuine. Our service becomes joyful. Love fills every command with meaning, because each act of obedience is no longer about earning God’s favor—it is about responding to the love we already have in Christ.
To love God wholeheartedly is to reflect His own love poured out for us at the cross. It is to let that love guide our words, shape our actions, and fuel our perseverance. Such love will not be content with bare-minimum obedience. It will be willing to sacrifice, to serve, and to endure. And in living this way, we shine as witnesses to the One who gave everything for us.
The Simple Gospel 