Submit to God by loving him

God is worthy of your submission, as proven by his unlimited love towards the children of men. We can have confidence in loving him and submitting to him because he “loved us first.” (John 4:19)

The love of God enables God’s purpose. God’s purpose is to maximize joy, which he accomplishes by maximizing improvement. Love edifies.¹ Love improves. Love serves God’s purpose by making things better.² What does not edify doesn’t come from³ or lead to God,⁴ because God is love.⁵ It is through the love of God that this world was created and through the love of God that Jesus came here to live and die to enable us to grow in similarity to him in life and to be resurrected into immortality after death.⁶

God’s love is much more than a feeling. God’s love is a measure of how much you are willing to suffer for the benefit of another. While many people would describe love as a feeling, the only feeling the Lord demonstrated in his example of love was suffering. His demonstration consisted of caring completely for the welfare of others without any special consideration for himself. It was this example he explicitly commanded his disciples to emulate. We love God by submitting to him.

It is hard to find a Christian who takes offense at the several scriptures where God commands us to love him with all our heart, might, mind, and strength.⁷ It is equally hard to find a Christian who submits to God and actually does so, and increasingly difficult to find one who thinks it is even possible to do so. Who do you know that loves him with all their heart, might, mind, and strength?

Instances of sin are always situational, but the cause of sin never is. Rebellion against God is never about the situation that reveals it, but about a lack of love for God. All sin is betrayal of the love of God, showing you what you prefer to his love. When you sin, you show what you love more than God. While you love something more than him, you are not submitted to him.

Every Christian says that they love God, but what do they say through the choices they make?⁶⁵² Love is a measure of what you are willing to sacrifice for another. You won’t find a professed Christian who doesn’t think they love God, but how much are they willing to sacrifice for him? Every sin is an example of something you are not willing to sacrifice to God.⁶⁵³ How many do you know who sacrifice everything they have or could have, and all that they are or could be for the benefit of God? How many bring about that benefit by “doing it unto one of the least of these” and therefore doing it unto him? (Matthew 25:40)