How do you know if you Love God

by: Frances M McCrory-Meservy July 15, 2013

God is love.  Since God is love, he must be more interested in relationships than anything else. 

If we love God, we will obey him.  If we love God, we will love his wordIf we love God, we will also love our fellow man. 

We humans mimic whomever we love.  If we love God, we are merciful as he is merciful. If we love God, we want to become like him. 

If we love God, his Spirit resides in us so we can constantly become more like him.  When the Holy Spirit lives in us, we bear the fruit of the Spirit and this makes us have God's nature.

When you love someone, you talk about them all the time.  It's just human nature.  You don't go tap a stranger on the shoulder to get their attention, you just tell everyone you talk to as you go through life.  It's a natural thing.

He gives us forgiveness when we do not disserve it.  This is called GraceWe should be gracious to others as he is gracious to us.  Forgiveness should be second nature to us. We should be slow to anger and quick to forgive.  That's how love acts.

As we love God, we walk with him and come to know him personally.  

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There is a variation of wording in different translations; therefore, I looked up the meanings in the Strong's.  The word translated steadfast love in the New Revised Standard is really loving kindness or mercy.  And the word translated acknowledgement in the New International Version is knowledge.  The New King James is the only one that stayed true to the original meaning.  I therefore, chose to use the NKJ version for this dissertation.  See examples below.  

2654. chaphets, khaw-fates'; a prim. root; prop. to incline to; by impl. (lit. but rarely) to bend; fig. to be pleased with, desire:-- X any at all, (have, take) delight, desire, favour, like, move, be (well) pleased, have pleasure, will, would.

2617. checed, kheh'-sed; from H2616; kindness; by impl. (towards God) piety; rarely (by opp.) reproof, or (subject.) beauty:--favour, good deed (-liness, -ness), kindly, (loving-) kindness, merciful (kindness), mercy, pity, reproach, wicked thing.

2077. zebach, zeh'-bakh; from H2076; prop. a slaughter, i.e. the flesh of an animal; by impl. a sacrifice (the victim or the act):--offer (-ing), sacrifice.

1847. da'ath, dah'-ath; from H3045; knowledge:--cunning, [ig-] norantly, know(-ledge), [un-] awares (wittingly).

430. 'elohiym, el-o-heem'; plur. of H433; gods in the ordinary sense; but spec. used (in the plur. thus, esp. with the art.) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:--angels, X exceeding, God (gods) (-dess, -ly), X (very) great, judges, X mighty

5930. 'olah, o-law'; or 'owlah, o-law'; fem. act. part of H5927; a step or (collect. stairs, as ascending); usually a holocaust (as going up in smoke):--ascent, burnt offering (sacrifice), go up to. See also H5766.

NRSV I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
Hosea 6:6

NKJV Hosea 6:6 For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

NIV Hosea 6:6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

NKJV

Exo 20:6 .. but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

John 8:42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.

John 14:15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments.

John 14:24 "He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.