When people talk about love for God, they usually think of it only in terms of emotions. Of course, our hearts are involved in loving God. But there is more involved in love for God than just our hearts. There is also involved in it our minds.

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When a young lawyer came to Jesus inquiring about the greatest commandment he asked, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus replied, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:35-37). So, it is true from the words of Christ that the mind has something to do in the process of loving God.

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But what does this mean? It means that, given the fact that the mind is the part in us that comprehends realities surrounding us, we need to use it to understand the will of God and the truth of His word. The Apostle John taught that obedience to God’s commandments is the measure of love for Him. He said, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” (1 John 5:3). But before one can obey the word of God he needs to grasp what it says and means.

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The atrocities Jesus suffered at the hands of cruel men can touch our hearts and cause us to weep when we read about His ordeal. Then we start running His suffering through our thought processes. We can then become aware of how evil sin is as it cost the innocent Son of God His life. And once it is clear to us that God’s love for us “made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21), we finally are in a position to decide to love God Him in return. The love of God for us is real. God demonstrated His love toward us “in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

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In conclusion, people may proclaim their love for God all day long patting their chests and saying, “I love God, I can feel it!” but the acid test of our love for God is obedience to His commandments. Will you obey God today and submit to His Son’s commandment to be baptized for the remission of sins? Through the Apostle Peter Jesus said, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38).

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Constant Coulibaly