Focus On Loving God

“Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first.” – 1 John 4:18-19. 
 
As a Christian, I know that the most important part of my life is God. But with that being said, I am easily lured away from focusing on what is important. Daily living catches my attention and my mind wanders off a rabbit trail of distractions.

Trying to think only about God is basically impossible. Think about it. We can barely make it through our morning cup of coffee before we are distracted by something. But it’s not just that we’re ADD. There are legitimate duties of life that demand our attention. You’ve got to focus on work. You’ve got to focus on your spouse and kids. Life is not all that simple today. There is a lot going on.

The secret to permanent focus on God is to fall more deeply in love with Him. We need to turn our focus from our pain to God’s love. We need to switch our attention from focusing on our problems and our pain and pressures, our difficulties, and focus on God’s love. And even though we may be mad at God, we need to remind ourselves that His love isn’t based on what we do or what we say or what we focused on a particular day. God’s love is unconditional. God is love. We can’t make God stop loving me.

Such love is beyond our ability to grasp with our minds, but it is not beyond our ability to experience with our hearts. The more we study it, the more we understand it, the more we realize, we will move steadily beyond our understanding. But it does not mean that we cannot have confidence in the fact that God unconditionally loves us. Know it, cling to it, and remember it; don’t underestimate the love of God for you.

Spend some time focusing on loving God. Once the heart falls in love, that love continues even when your mind is occupied with something else. When you fall in love with your spouse, it becomes the foundation. You don’t stop loving your spouse just because you’re focused on mowing the lawn or watching a child’s baseball game. True marital love is always present. It’s the same in our relationship with God. It’s love that creates constant contact with Him.

Loving God with all your heart means to love God with your entire being. Truly loving God with all your heart means at all times. To put it another way, love God even when it seems He’s a million miles away even though He never is. God doesn’t leave our side. Love the Lord with all your heart means to love Him even when your prayers aren’t answered as you hoped they’d be. Continue to love the Lord when He says yes, no, and/or wait. Last but not least continue to love God even though bad things are happening and your circumstances remain unchanging.

Discussion Questions: 

1. What is your definition of “unconditional love”?
2. How often do you try to grasp the love of God?