We talk about love all the time at church. Yet way we talk about love doesn’t sound like the way the world talks about love. We make love sound as if it is an obligation, something we do because we have to. The way we talk about love doesn’t sound like fun. We can fix that by recognizing that our first love is God.
Everyone wants to be loved. Everyone needs to be loved. As we need food and shelter, so also do we need love. Recognizing our need to be loved is the first step towards fixing our understanding of love.
There is only one God. The point may seem like a theological tangent, but it is essential for fixing our understanding of love. Were there many gods, as people once believed, our devotion to God would be diluted. There is only one God, and thus our devotion to God is single-minded.
There is only one God, and he loves you. Astounding as it may seem, the Maker of Heaven and Earth knows you and loves you. We might be more likely to think that we would fear God, or stand in awe of God, or maybe try to make a deal with God. However, trusting that God loves us, our response is to love God. Jesus said that we should love the Lord our God. Maybe he should have said that we should love him back.