TOMORROW IS VALENTINE DAY. GIVE GOD A TOKEN OF YOUR LOVE
Colossians 1:10-12 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power …, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father
Oh, how I delight in this passage of scripture: “(the Lord) brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. (Ps 18:19)” Almost any hour I can turn on the radio, or browse a book store, go to Christian TV and there is someone telling me how much God loves me. It is true; how much more could he prove it than give his son to die for me.
But we are a bit out of balance when we indicate we can do nothing to make him love us more; whoop-ee. I get all the rewards! It is not just a matter of how much he loves us. Let’s acknowledge some accountability to our covenant relationship to love him back. Do you want to please him?
David goes on to say “The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me. …
Jesus said “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them. (John 14:21)”
How does that fit in the “you can’t do anything to make him love you more” doctrine? If it is true that he cannot love us more, the question remains, “Can we do things that please him?”
God’s love demands that he warn his beloved kids when they are on the wrong path. His love invites us to live close to him. He is pleased when he sees that we want to please him.
Sweet aroma 
Oneta, I understand what you’re saying here. It certainly grieves God when we fail to bless Him, to please Him with our love and obedience. However, I don’t see that in the same light as His loving me more than He already does. Surely, the sacrifice of His Son is the ultimate expression of His love! The Bible says “there is no greater love than this. . . . .” (John 15: 13). I think where we miss it is in not being able, in our finite minds, to grasp His infinite love and grace. There are no boundaries on His love. What is so amazing is that He loves us not BECAUSE of ourselves, but IN SPITE of ourselves!
I agree with you, but I believe what oneta is trying to emphasize is that we shouldn’t live our lives anyhow with the mindset that God has already to the limit and not try to please Him.
We need to understand that despite Him loving us so much so, we still need to make sure that we please Him
Yes. I thought that’s what I said 🙂 “Pleasing Him with our love and obedience” is the way I put it. Not earning His love, because we can’t. Blessing Him, because we can.
Oluwanifemi, yes. You almost wrapped it up with your last sentence. I would say “despite Him loving so much, it still pleases me to please him.” I might still be in controversy. I asked a group of about 45 Christians today, if they ever were motivated by the thought of wanting to please the Lord. Only about forty percent raised their hands. I am shocked that so few care. ]