Our love for God can grow in many different ways, all of them designed to allow us to see Him for who He really is: awesome, fearful, kind and loving. The ways that we universally know — such as Bible reading, daily personal worship and prayer times, corporate church worship, and encouraging discipleship groups — are all applied by many Christians all over the world.
However, the ways that will help grow our love for God are not limited to that. We can all do those things out of tradition or religion. What matters is what is going on in our heart. Ask yourself, is your heart totally given over to God?
Captivated
The Lord Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money" (Matthew 6:24)
If we want our love of God to grow, we have to decide for ourselves that He will be the One that we will love the most.
One humongous challenge posed against growing in love for and being captivated by God, however, is our earthly possessions. We can't say that we love God with all that we are unless we are able to let go of all that we have for His sake! Think about it.
Putting Christ first
In Matthew 19, Jesus spoke to a rich young man who wanted to follow Him. This young man obeyed all the commandments since his youth (verse 20), but then Jesus gave him one simple requirement:
"If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (see verse 21)
Not surprisingly, verse 22 tells us that the young man "went away sad, for he had many possessions."
If we all would want to admit it, we won't be far off from that young man. It is admittedly hard to let go of our possessions, but if we want to love God above all things, then we have to learn to let go. Jesus knew what He meant when He said that man cannot serve both God and money.
Invest in God to love Him more
So right here we are presented with a very powerful way to grow our love for God: "Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal." (Matthew 6:20)
Give to God's work on earth. Bless the needy for His sake. Provide for those who labour in the gospel. Store up treasures for yourself in God's pockets!
Why? The reason is fairly simple: "Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be."(Matthew 6:21)
Do this and see how quickly your love for God grows.
