Years back, Gary Chapman wrote the book The 5 Languages of Love. In practical terms, his point was you may show love how you like to receive love, but if your spouse or children have a different love language than you, they do not see or feel your love, even though you deeply love them. An example would be if a husband’s love language is acts of service, he may be confused when he does the laundry or grocery shopping and his wife does not perceive those as an act of love, viewing it as simply performing a husband’s duties. This is because the love language she understands is words of affirmation (verbal affirmation that he loves her).
Interestingly, Jesus told us how to show our love for Him in His exchange with Peter about love. He asked Peter, “Do you love me?” He followed Peter’s affirmation saying, then “Feed My sheep”. When Jesus asked him the same question again, Peter assumed from him following Jesus that Jesus knew he loved Him, but he was totally missing the point Jesus was making. Telling Peter to feed Jesus’ sheep would mean that Jesus wanted Peter to own Jesus’ passion for other people, not just Peter’s interest in other people. Jesus’ love for people is described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, which is a selfless type of love for others shown in practical ways—especially for their spiritual welfare. God is not interested in sentimental jargon or in doing for others what we think they want or need. Loyalty to God was birthed in us when we were spiritually regenerated (Ezekiel 36:25-27, NIV). There will be such a deep desire within us that we will be careful to do what He wants done, not what we think needs to be done. This type of transformation can only be something the Holy Spirit can plant in a person. This type of love will prevail when we choose to do God’s will, even when it makes little sense to us or what is asked is contrary to what we desire. We start out with such love, however, neglecting to nurture that desire will allow it to be smothered by our self-centered sin-nature.
How have you been showing your love for God? …the way you like to be loved or the way God implanted in your heart when you were first born again? If you haven’t experienced that kind of love for God, you have an incredible experience awaiting you. It is like a positive traumatic experience that results in an inner joy and confidence that influences your desires and how you interpret life. It literally changes the trajectory of your life. If you determine to invest in becoming an apprentice of Jesus, doing so will be able you to sustain that love and joy for the rest of your life!
Why don’t you see others who once experienced that transformation but no longer show it? It is because they have fallen into the trap the Jesus described the believers in Ephesus had done. After affirming their efforts to do noteworthy deeds, He then said, “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” Revelation 2:4-5 (NIV). Repentance means to turn around 180 degrees and go the other direction in how you are THINKING. The context of this passage shows they had drifted away from loving Christ from their hearts and loving Him from what they falsely assumed was what He wanted. Christ was saying to them much the same basic thing He had told Peter. If you really love me, you will have My heart and engage in expressing it to others as I express My love to others. The consequences for shifting away from having and not showing that kind of love are severe—Him removing His Spirit from one’s life. Yikes!