Jesus said that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments. Our love is contingent upon obedience, not feeling or maudlin sentimentality, which can fluctuate like a weather vane in a whirlwind. Some believers are more demonstrative than others, while some timid or inhibited believers are sometimes stoical, even with secular matters they show restraint at showing motion publicly--they may be too self-conscious or don't want people to notice them or deflect attention off Christ. The focus of our worship and love should be Christ and not how we express it--there is a no-size-fits-all way to worship! We're all hard-wired uniquely to complement the body!
The measure of faith is our obedience and its only yardstick. "Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes" (Bonhoeffer). Love is not merely a sentiment or getting a spiritual high or intoxication on Jesus--though it may be preoccupation! We don't walk in the glow of some religious experience all our lives. It's not about walking on Cloud Nine all day! We have to have our valleys to test our faith, as God withdrew from Hezekiah to see what was really on his heart.
God wants to know how we will act by faith, not feeling! (paying "lip service," Isa. 29:13; Jer. 12:2). For we walk by faith, not by sight! (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17). It is faith that pleases God (cf. Heb. 11:6)--He will not say to us, "How great awesome your feelings!" Some people just have no control over their feelings and give full vent to them regardless of them being good or bad. Jesus commended the Canaanite woman for her faith! The Roman centurion was also commended for his faith!
What does it mean then to love God with all our heart? It means all that we are: our wills or volition; our emotion or sentiment; and, of course, our intellect or mind. Everyone seems to be strong in some area and weak in others--for we all fall short and are works in progress. The point is that we are sincere in our love and worship and don't feign love or try to be someone or something we are not to impress others.
Our faith isn't how much we believe, but how well we obey. Our obedience is measured by how we love with our volition and submit to God's will; our emotions may be expressed by outbursts and feelings shared with others, and loving with our intellect measured by how we use or don't use our God-given brains and talents. We cannot say that someone is an intellectual and is just wired that way to be insensitive and impassive other ways, no more than we can say one is emotive and foolish and reckless in expression.
We must seek to love God with our full and complete personality--all that we are and strive to be in Christ (OUR SOUL, MAKEUP, OR PERSONHOOD--WHAT DEFINES US!). That's why Scripture says to love God with all our soul, all our mind, all our strength, and all our heart! That just about covers all the bases and shows that we all have room for improvement and growth, for God isn't finished with us yet and we all must enroll in His school of love!
Christians are in love with Jesus and He is the Great Lover of our soul, who loves us for who we are and accepts us with baggage, flaws, and blemishes and all! The believer's walk is a romance with God and we grow in our love by means of obedience and communion or fellowship on a daily basis.
We are to grow in our love of the Lord and it's a thrill meant to last a lifetime. All believers have a different strong suit or forte of how they express their love for God--we might do it through our spiritual gift and in our service to Christ either in our mission to the unsaved or in ministry to the body. At the Bema of Christ, we all await the final verdict: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant!" And we must never divorce faith and faithfulness!
The important lesson to glean is that we should never compare ourselves to others and get jealous of their gift or abilities, talents, responsibilities, or opportunities. There are two common errors in the body: gift projection, whereby we expect others to be like us; and gift envy, whereby we wish we had someone else's gift--we will all be judged individually and personally! CAVEAT: Don't let someone belittle your gift! Christians are lovers in essence and what the world needs is more Christian love (our primary gift), according to Bertrand Russell, British mathematician and an atheist philosopher.
Christ didn't found an empire on war or the sword, but by being the Emperor of Love, according to Napoleon Bonaparte. NB: Christ never asks us to do anything He didn't do--He gave all for us and we must return the favor by denying ourselves, taking up our cross, and following Him, as our expression of love. The expression of love is self-sacrifice, the opposite of being selfish and living for oneself--love gives of oneself sacrificially! Remember who gave the ultimate sacrifice for us--His all!
A measure of our love for God can be seen in how we love our neighbor and especially the brethren too! This is love in action and love applied! He who loves another has fulfilled the law, according to Romans 13:8. "For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Gal. 5:14, NIV). "Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law" (Rom. 13:10, NIV). We have no right to claim a love of God if we do not love one another, for love is the fruit of the Spirit in all believers, which is shed abroad in our hearts (cf. Rom. 5:5). The institution of matrimony is meant to be the image of Christ's love for the church and this is one vehicle for learning and applying the love we experience in Christ. Soli Deo Gloria!
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