Love.
A Christian’s primary response to God is love. There are numerous ways for us to respond to God; devotion, respect, reverence, honor, service, obedience, praise, thanksgiving, and oh so many more. Only one response is the source of all other responses; love. Everything flows forth from love. Every single thing we do is a result of love. There is no devotion to God without first a love of Him. Without a love for God there is no honor or respect for Him. The greatest commandment given to humanity is love. We see so many times throughout the Bible mentions of love. We are told and shown how to love through the examples of Christ during His time on Earth.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31 NIV
If we do not love God, we cannot love ourselves. If we do not love ourselves, we cannot love others. If we do not love others, we cannot fulfill the greatest commandment given to us. If we do not love others, we cannot fulfill the Great Commission. We best fulfill the call of God when we rightly respond to Him with love. When we love Him first and best, we are then able to love ourselves and the world.
When love is our primary response to God, everything else will then begin to fall into place. Our intimate time with Him will fall into place. We will honor and praise Him rightly. We will respect and thank Him properly. Our outward expressions of the spiritual disciplines will come forth. Our love for ourselves will become real. Our love for the world will become evident and tangible. The fulfillment of our calling and the Great Commission will come to fruition.
Responding to God in love is an exhibition of our unwavering and complete trust in Him and His work. A response of love has the ability tear down any fragment of doubt or fear that may creep into our minds. 1 John 4:18 tells us “there is no fear in love”. The beautiful song by Steffany Gretzinger, No Fear In Love, always rocks me to my core and perfectly sums up why a Christian’s primary response to God is love.
Gracie Waldrop 