I’m currently in a series about loving God. In my last post we saw that it requires more than lip service. I need to do what pleases Him.

In order to know what pleases the Lord, I need to be in His Word. When a passage speaks to me, I guard it from injury if I do what it says. It’s only logical that if the Word is true, then I’ll do it. If I trust God, then I’ll fulfill His desire. That’s something which God will see and appreciate.

But, there’s more to it than that.

If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?

I John 3:17 NIV

The original Greek of this verse is very interesting. The phrase, no pity, literally means to close your bowels. To the ancient Greeks, the bowels were the seat of our emotions.

I’ll try not to make it too graphic. However, the love of God keeps things moving. I believe that there are too many “constipated” Christians. There should be a constant flow of God’s blessings into and out of our lives.

Simply put, love for God means blessing others. Do you have what someone else needs? It might be money. It might be a skill or resources or contacts.

Too often we just sit back. It’s like we’re saying, “I feel sorry for you. Let’s see how you get out of this one.”

We have to act like the body of Christ we’ve been placed into. Each part should be supplying what the others need. We’re wrong if we don’t associate loving God, with helping others.

But it goes deeper than that.

If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

I John 4:20-21 NIV

This is where the understanding of true love and hate comes in. Many think that love and hate are emotions that can’t be controlled. That’s not the case when it comes to the Biblical definitions.

A careful study of both love and hate in the Scriptures will bring you to the following conclusions: Love is choosing to actively, positively participate in someone’s life. Hate is choosing to not actively, positively participate in someone’s life.

You can say, “I am actively, positively participating with God.” Yet at the same time you’re walking in hate toward others. That means you’re either negatively participating in someone’s life OR refusing to participate at all. In either case you don’t really love God.

The Lord gave us this clear command. To participate with Me, you must participate with my people. It all comes down to the fact that love for God means participating. This is a huge area that Christians in our generation have no concept of.

Especially since COVID, we’ve found it to be more and more acceptable to be isolated Christians. I’ve heard all kinds of excuses.

The younger believers are turned off by “big box religion”. For those of you who don’t know the term, it means churches with huge operating expenses compared to their impact on the community.

Others have been hurt or offended by the congregation or leadership. Then there are those who feel that they’re just too busy to attend church.

I understand all of this. However, in order to love God properly, you have to find a way to personally, positively, participate with His people. I’ll continue this subject in my next post.

Question: What is your level of personal participation in the body of Christ?

© 2026 Nick Zaccardi