Love the Father!
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 John 2:15)
“I love pizza. I love ice cream. I love sunny days. I love autumn.” We throw around the word “love” at almost everything in this world.
Unfortunately, this kind of love does not always last. Sometimes we equate our love to feelings which can become dangerous. We love because something makes us feel good. It’s dangerous when the things we love make us feel good and it overshadows what the Father has done for us.
It becomes easy for us to pick things that fulfill the craving of our sinful hearts and desires for short term gratification. Danger lurks around the corner to trap us in a mode of short-term gratification in place of the eternal glory of heaven. The devil knows if we become fixated on the short-term gratification, the love of the Father will no longer be something we want and therefore lose eternal salvation.
Our confidence is not in our love for the Father but rather the love the Father has for us. Even when we seek the things of this world, our Father chose to give up his best for us to prove his love. He did not wait until we loved him. He loved us first and sent his Son to die on the cross for all our sins, including loving things in this world more than him.
His love changes our love. The more we deep dive into his love for us through his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, the more we will put him first in our lives.
Our hearts will be set to love him more than any person or thing in this world. It’s best when we hear about the Father’s love every day. By remaining in the Father’s love, we will love him more than anything. Our focus will be on him and his love. In his love, there will be no more sin or death. We will live with our Father forever and ever!
Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, keep me connected to your powerful love. Let me never love anyone or anything more than you. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen!