Blogs/News/PSAs

God loving us first was the beginning of our relationship with him. We must develop a love for God in order to complete the relationship. No matter how much He loved us there could not be a relationship until we loved him in return. Relationships are not one sided. It is not just God loving us but us loving God that completes and defines that relationship.

To have a healthy relationship and to reap the benefits of that relationship there must be a mutual love for one another. If our relationship with God is not what it should be then we have to look within ourselves to cultivate and deepen that relationship. There are many one sided relationships with God and one sided relationships in the world. In our relationship with God it is not Him that is lacking in the relationship. It is us.

I have always had a love for God. Even as a teenager I knew that there was a God and I knew that He loved me. I knew that from a simple song that goes like this....

Jesus loves me, this I know, for the bible tells me so....what a wonderful song. I am sure most children heard the song while growing up. It is a simple song but a powerful song.

The song is so powerful that it is known all over the world. Back then I had no idea how much God loved me or how much He sacrificed for me. All I knew was that He loved me because the song said that he did. Even as baby Christians that is all we need to know, at first. But, as we get older and mature in the things of God we have to grow in the understanding that we must reciprocate that love.

If we never develop a love for God we can never understand what He did for us and how much He loves us. We will never understand love in any of our earthly relationships either. We will never understand unconditional love. Not understanding can prevent us from totally submitting to God and His ways. It will interfere with the desire to build a strong relationship with God and to walk in obedience. It will keep us from finding our purpose and from living a life sold out for God.

God's love is not conditional and He will never stop loving us no matter what. God does not have human characteristics. His love endures forever. When we grasp the concept of unconditional love we are able to establish a right relationship with God and with our families, friends and neighbors. We then will realize what God did for us. I can think of no better scripture than this:

For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

Until we understand the dynamics of such a love we will never quite understand why it is so important for us to have a love for God and not just a love for God, but the same type of sacrificial love that He had, has and will always have for us. Sacrificial love for God will lead us to lay down that bad habit and/or that relationship that we know is not right. It will lead us to sacrifice our time, our money and give up that ungodly behavior and much more.

When we really get to know God, we will develop such a deep love for Him that we will want to please Him.

Rhonda Herring Dent was born and raised in Goldsboro, N.C. She is a Christian Author and her first book, Ever Changing was published in June 09. A member of Harvest Life Changers Church in Woodbridge, VA, Dent now serves as an inspirational speaker that is bringing her message of healing, hope and reconciliation to hurting souls. For more information about Rhonda Dent, log onto www.e-rhonda.net.