hy can't a "saved" believer do what God tells him to do? Why can't he let God rule his life? Why can't he enjoy spending time worshiping and hearing the word of God? Why is he reluctant in giving or tithing? Why can he not spend time reading the Bible? Even if he reads, why can't he understand the meaning? Have you ever wondered about these things?  The root cause of these is because the respect, the fear, and the love of God is missing in his life. God wants Himself to be the most loved, the most respected and the most feared of all. However, his children lack these things in their life. A person can do anything or spend any amount of money for the one he loves. One can travel how far the distance may be just to be with a special person. Even if he spends a long time with his soulmate, it seems to him like a short time. Not only for the one he loves, man can do anything for a person he respects. He can also do anything for a person who he is afraid of. But believers do not love, have no respect, nor are not afraid of God. For that reason, when it comes to God, they are tightfisted, do not want to give time, and have no desire to hear about him.  
 
Must be the most loved

God said, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."(Deuteronomy 6:4-9) 

If you love someone with all of your heart, your heart will be filled with that person and there will be no room for anyone else. If you love half-heartedly, there is still room for someone else. Because of that, some people actually have more than one lover. If you love God with all your heart, you will not be able to love anyone else. God commanded his people the Israelites to love him with all their hearts. 

Loving with all strength is also related to loving with all heart. If you love someone with all your heart, it is not difficult to give the person all your strength. This means that you could go any distance to meet with the person you love; You would not feel tired; You feel instead be energetic for your lover. Because of that love, even weak-hearted girl is not afraid to run away with her lover by going against the objections of the parents. You could give up everything for the one you love so much. God also wanted the Israelites to love him with all their strength. If They had loved God like that, there would not have been any difficulties doing anything for God. 

Loved someone more than God

Although God asked them to love him with all their heart, their soul and with all their strength, the Israelites did not love God with all their hearts. If you look at their history, they did not show that kind of love. They loved idols more than God. Therefore, they did not listen to what the Lord had asked them to do. Truth is, you would not want to do anything for someone you don't really love.

Christ most loved?

Just as God wanted himself to be the most beloved of the Israelites, Christ also said that he wanted love from those who believed in him. "Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:37). Jesus wanted to be loved more than one would love his parents or children. A young man loves his parents the most before he has his own children. When he has his own, he loves his children the most. It should be that way. But Jesus asks that you love him more than your parents or your children. Is he asking too much? Is that even possible? The thing is, just because you love Jesus doesn't mean you have to hate your parents or your children. He said you must love him more than them. Why did he ask to be the most beloved?

God loves you with his life

The reason why Christ wants believers to love him more than their parents or children is because he also loves the believers with his life. "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." (John 15:12-13). If you love Jesus more than your parents and children, it is very easy to follow him. But believers today love other things than Christ. They say they show their love through music, but their love through the music does not come from the heart. They simply sing they love Jesus because that's what the song writer wrote. Because they don't have love in their heart, they cannot offer anything to Christ. 

How can you love?

Is love something you can demand from someone? God demanded the Israelites to love him with all their heart and all their strength. God the Son also asked believers to love him more than their parents and their children. How is it that possible? Is it possible to demand to be loved? It must be possible since believers are asked to love. Even so, how can you love?

Loving someone is possible if the following conditions are met:

• You must have the ability to love;
• You must be close to the person; 
• You must yield your life to the person. 

Ability to love

You can love a person when you see his or her talent, beauty, power and riches. If that's the case, in order to love God, you must know His abilities, riches and powers. We all know that God is very powerful and he loves people. There is nothing he cannot do. But people don't love him because they don't know his qualities and his power. Since people don't know him well, they don't have the ability to love God.

Proximity 

You might not fall in love someone just by being close the person, but closeness can trigger love. If that is the case, to be able to love God, you must be close to him. How can you be close to God? You can be close to God by reading the Bible, praying, listening to the word of God, fellowshipping with God's people, and by thinking about what God has done. 

Surrendering 

When you receive Christ and let him rule your life, your love toward him can grow. For the fruit of the Spirit is love. "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." (1 John 4:8). When Christ or the Spirit or God reigns in your life, love becomes spontaneous. There's no need to try to love. 

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