What It Really Means To Love God

by Creflo Dollar


Do you love God? Most people would answer that question with an emphatic, “Yes, Brother Dollar! I love God!” However, the true test of your love for God is how willing you are to submit your plans, purposes and pursuits to Him. Too often, people are quick to claim they love God without knowing what it really means to do so. Loving God is more than coming to church every Sunday or doing nice things for people. While He wants you to do these things because they reflect His love to others, loving God includes much more. To love God means that you are willing to separate yourself from the world’s way of doing things and offer your life—your body, time and resources—to Him without question. When you do this, your love for the Father becomes a real thing and not just lip service.

The God-kind of love is referred to as agape love; it is unconditional, requiring nothing in return. Along the same line, the Greek word for the verb “to love” is agapeo. It means, “to totally give oneself over to; to be committed or tied to something or someone.” When you agapeo God, you bind yourself to Him in order to become one with Him. Many people claim to love God, but they really aren’t willing to pay the price necessary to walk out their confession. God is looking for the type of commitment from you that a husband and wife make to one another on their wedding day, a commitment that vows to forsake all others and cleave to one another forever. He wants you to tie yourself to Him in order to become one with Him.

When you join yourself to God, you become one with His will and purposes for your life. You also take on His thoughts. Once you start thinking like Him and wanting what He wants for your life, you show that you love Him.

One of the first requirements that needs to be in place for you to completely give yourself over to God is that you have to turn away from the things of the world—its lusts, enticements and ways of operating (1 John 2:15-16). Romans 12:1-2 instructs us to give our lives to God as our reasonable service to Him. It goes on to say that we shouldn’t be conformed to the world. As a Christian, you can’t stay in love with your old lifestyle and still say you love God (Matthew 6:24). This is a heart issue. God knows the difference between someone who is genuinely seeking Him and someone who is trying to straddle both sides of the fence. Just be sure you aren’t one who is leading a double life, but instead have turned your heart completely over to God.

You can’t effectively love your neighbor if you don’t master your love for God, which is the first part of the great commandment (Matthew 22:36-40). Part of binding yourself to Him is trusting Him enough to know that He is more than capable of fulfilling everything He’s ordained for your life. It isn’t your responsibility to make your plan happen for yourself, but instead, you let Him bring His will to pass.

God loves you, and He wants to demonstrate His love for you in overflowing proportions. The question is do you love Him? When you commit yourself to Him by forsaking the world and trusting Him with every detail of your life, you position yourself to experience the fullness of His love for you.