Love is one of the most powerful universal languages that brings people together. Love is something that everyone needs and wants, but it’s so important to have and build a healthy foundation of love. 

The wrong foundation of love can eventually cause one to fall and lead one down a crooked path, but the right foundation of love allows one to bloom and grow in its designed form and leads one down an illuminating path. 

Matthew 22:37-38  states, “ Jesus replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’’ This is the first and greatest commandment.”

This scripture is the first and greatest commandment that Jesus called us to follow but why?

I believe this command comes first because it sets the foundation for us as believers on how to build a healthy foundation of love. 

People are constantly looking for love in men, friendships, money, our children, social media, and more but all these things will fail us eventually and cause us to move on an unhealthy foundation of love.

Many people want and look for a love that feels stable, but there is only one that can give us that stability of love we are looking for and that is Jesus. Jesus is God and God is love. 

We must remember God is love and if we want an everlasting foundation of love we must go to the one who created it.

It’s impossible to know what love is without knowing and loving God first. 

Here are 3 reminders on The Beauty in Loving God first: 

 

1. Loving God first Teaches Us What Love Is 

1 John 4:7-8 states,  “Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

This scripture speaks to the fact that God is love and how we are all children of God if we have the gift of love in us. 

As a child grows, they look to their parents to help guide them and lead them in the journey of becoming who they were created to be. In the same way as children of God with the gift of love in us, we should look to God to know what love is because God is love. 

The more we seek God the more we will know and recognize His love.

God created us in a way that causes us to have a longing for Him and His love.

God loves it when we come to Him. God loves it when we seek Him first. God loves communicating with us and leading us. 

May we take the time to truly love and get to know Him so we can then learn to know what true love is. 

2. Loving God first Teaches Us How to Love Ourselves 

Ephesians 3:19  states , “May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

Now that we have learned to grow and understand God’s love and what that is, then comes applying that same love to ourselves. 

God’s love can be too much to comprehend but we must learn to embrace it. When we learn to embrace God’s love, we then can learn to embrace and love ourselves. 

That means if love is patient, then we should be patient with ourselves. If love is kind, then we should be kind to ourselves. If love does not envy, then we should not compare but instead recognize how great God created us. 

God’s love is a reflection of how we should love ourselves.

There are so many scriptures in the bible that speak to how God sees us and how we should love ourselves.

Even the bible itself is a love story written to us about our God and His amazing love for us. May we as believers take advantage of this beautiful love story and learn to love ourselves as the beautiful creation our God created. 

3. Loving God first Shows Us How to Love Others 

Matthew 22:39 states , “A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”

As stated earlier, the first and greatest commandment tells us to love God with all our heart, all our soul ,and all our mind. Then the second commandment that follows is just as important, love your neighbor as yourself. 

That means once we learn to love God first, then learn to love ourselves, then we can finally love others properly to fulfill this great commandment. 

There is no better way to represent Christ than showering others with His love that moves through us. We are all walking vessels of His love so it’s important to be mindful of how we treat others. 

1 John 4:11-12 states “No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.” 

The way we treat and love others is a reflection of how we love ourselves and how Christ loves us.

If you are having a hard time with loving others, yourself, or even God, please take some time to seek help from a spiritual advisor or therapist to better assist.

I pray this blog blessed you and encouraged you to keep loving God first.