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Love Means Participation

11 May
Love Means Participation

I’ve been writing about how we should show our love for God. In my last post I started talking about participating in the body of Christ. We were looking at a verse from 1 John.

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.

1 John 4:20-21 NIV

If you remember, I said that love is choosing to actively, positively participate in someone’s life while hate is choosing to not actively, positively participate in someone’s life.

So that brings up the question; can you love God and not go to church? Some would argue that you could watch a church service on TV or over the internet. But can you participate with those believers?

A great segment of Christians say that they love God. Is it true? What does God think, based upon His Word?

In the above verse John is saying, “How can you participate with someone you cannot see, if you cannot participate with the ones you do see?”

“But I don’t like them.”

The thing is, the Lord isn’t asking you to like them, but to participate with them. I’m going to start meddling. It’s amazing what you’ll put up with for a paycheck. But to please God, it seems too hard.

You would rather actively, positively participate with some people you don’t like for a paycheck. Do you love your paycheck more than God?

I won’t judge you. But I know what the world says about us. The world calls us hypocrites, and many times they’re correct.

But the real issue is more than participation.

God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

Hebrews 6:10 NIV

The word for help in this verse is actually the Greek word for serve. This verse makes it clear that you show your love for God as you serve His people and continue to serve. It’s more than giving a blessing. It’s also more than participation. We’re talking about serving.

Love for God means serving others. This is the hardest thing we’re called to do. The truth is that we’re basically selfish creatures. Our first response is, “Well nobody serves me. Why should I serve them?”

At the Last Supper all of the disciples thought like that. Then Jesus took a towel and washed their feet. Jesus served in spite of them not serving.

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.

1 Peter 4:10 NIV

Do you realize that when you serve you’re administering God’s grace? We need to do something for the Lord. Not because we have to, but because we can. He’s made us worthy to serve Him. Now we can love God with our actions.

Question: How well do you serve in the body of Christ?

© 2026 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on May 11, 2026 in Encouragement, Fellowship, Ministry, Relationships, Spiritual Walk, The Church

 

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Loving God, Loving Others

08 May
Loving God, Loving Others

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

 
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Posted by on May 8, 2026 in The Church, Encouragement, Spiritual Walk, Fellowship, Relationships

 

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Loving God in Action

06 May
Loving God in Action

Lately, I’ve been posting about what it means to love God. It all starts with His love being birthed in us. Then, I must learn to love God with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength. From there, I need to do what it takes to have an undivided heart toward the Lord.

Now I want to talk about the result that God is looking for in us.

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.

2 Corinthians 5:14 NIV

If I have an undivided heart, it works through to my actions. I want to show God my love. This love compels me – it arrests me, it carries me along

My life should show the love of God. But how does this work in my life? First, I want to talk about what this love is not.

“Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.”

Luke 11:42 NIV

The Pharisees believed that they loved God. I can’t even imagine tithing on this level. Actually bringing a tithe of the herbs you grow in your garden. Tithing is good, but by itself it doesn’t show God that you love Him.

It’s like a “workaholic” parent who is never home to spend time with their family because they choose to work late hours. When their children are older they say, “You never showed us any love.” The parent’s response is that they were working for their kids.

Jesus knew the condition of the hearts of these Pharisees.

…but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts.

John 5:42 NIV

How did He know this? The Lord explained it to them.

How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?

John 5:44 NIV

The fact is that if you love someone, you desire praise from the one you love. Therefore you do things that will please them. The opposite of this love is trying to convince them to be pleased with what you’re doing.

What does true love for God look like?

“Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”

John 14:21 NIV

This is what seeking praise from God is all about. If I want God to praise me – I find out what pleases Him.

First of all, you need to hear His commands. Then, we must obey those commands. In this verse, that word obey, means to guard, watch over, and keep your eye on to prevent loss or injury.

Love for God means guarding His commands. First, I must know His desires. Then I need to keep an eye on them. I should be rehearing them again and again.

That’s the importance of being in Scripture regularly. I get His Word on the inside of me. Then, in order to guard it – to make sure it’s not lost – I need to memorize it. After that, I need to take it a step further. I must do what it says.

Question: How much of God’s Word are you guarding in your heart?

© 2026 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on May 6, 2026 in Encouragement, Spiritual Walk, Word of God

 

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God or the World

04 May
God or the World

I’m currently in a series about loving God. At this point I’ve been talking about having a single heart toward the Lord. So far I’ve dealt with seeking pleasure and pursuing money before God. Today I want to talk about seeking the things of the world.

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the Father but from the world.

I John 2:15-16 NIV

The simple truth is that I must love God more than the world. This is probably the toughest of the three distractions to fight against.

That’s because the view of the world is all around us. Unless you live isolated in the woods somewhere, you can’t get away from its call. That’s what makes it so difficult. It’s never out of our sight.

You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

James 4:4 NIV

James clearly tells us that if you become a friend of world, then you’re acting as an enemy of God. The verse from 1 John tells us that this love of the world has three prongs.

The first is the cravings of sinful man. That’s literally the desires of our flesh. Our flesh has us wanting every new thing that comes out.

The unfortunate thing about this is that in our modern society, new things become obsolete in 6 months. This means that you can spend all your time looking at all the new technology. But you’ll never be satisfied because something better will be just around the corner.

Then there’s the lust of the eyes. That’s when you want to see everything that everyone is doing. We even have terms like FOMO that were unheard of 50 years ago.

Do you find yourself constantly scrolling through Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Reddit. Do I really care that you just bought a bar of soap at Target? And no, that burrito doesn’t look any different than the one I get at my local restaurant.

The world offers so many things that I can spend my time “binge watching” (another term never heard in the past). There are TV shows, movies, sports, news, and weather enough to fill up all of my free time.

Finally there’s the boasting about what we have and do. That’s literally talking about pride. I want the world to acknowledge me. I can dance, sing, or cook. On the other hand, I can make myself look like a viral idiot.

Your flesh says, “I want the world to see that I’m special.” The fact is that God already knows you’re special. God wants to show you some incredible things if you’ll just spend some time with Him.

When it comes to your flesh, well…

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Galatians 6:14 NIV

This has got to be one of our faith statements.

“In Christ Jesus I have been crucified to the world, and the world has been crucified to me.”

Never allow the pursuit of the world come before your relationship with God.

Question: How much time do you spend online with the world versus time with God?

© 2026 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on May 4, 2026 in Encouragement, Faith, Spiritual Walk

 

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Loving God Over Money

01 May
Loving God Over Money

Today I’m continuing my series on loving God. My last post was about loving God with a single heart. Now I’ll move forward with that thought.

As you probably know, there are those who only serve God for what they can get. They think that godliness is a means to financial gain. James has something to say about that.

When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

James 4:3 NIV

In our seeking of God, it all comes down to motives. Isn’t motives simply another way of describing what direction our heart is pointing to? We could be praying to God well enough, but our heart is moving toward pleasure. We need to cleanse our heart of the love of pleasure.

Let’s go back to the verse I looked at in the last post.

People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God…

2 Timothy 3:2-4 NIV

One of the earmarks of the last days is the love of money. These people want money itself – not what money can buy. You have money, want more, and you won’t part with what you have. For an uncluttered relationship with the Lord, I must love God more than money.

Money is a strange thing. It’s amazing what people will do for money. Things like live on a desert island or make a fool of yourself on TV.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Hebrews 13:5 NIV

You can take this verse in a couple of ways. You might look it as saying don’t leave God to pursue money.

There are believers who say, “When I feel comfortable with my portfolio, I’ll have the time to serve God in a big way.” Unfortunately, if you love money, you’ll never feel comfortable.

Another way to look at it is that if you love money, it will leave you. In today’s world, that’s always a possibility. On the other hand, God will never leave you or forsake you.

The word used for leave, means to get up and go. The Greek word, forsake, in this verse, literally means to take you somewhere and leave you there. Isn’t that a great description of what happens when you pursue wealth?

We need to cleanse our heart of the love of money. Remember, money itself isn’t a bad thing. We need it to survive in this generation. But the love of money in place of the Lord can lead you to a ruined life.

When we talk about loving God with a single heart, we have to bring up the subject of money. There are many who place the accumulation of money over their pursuit of God. Then, they wonder why their relationships with their family and friends is suffering.

Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

1 Timothy 6:9 NIV

Don’t fall into this trap. Never let the desire for wealth overcome your love and devotion to the Lord. Come to Him with a single heart.

Question: What part does money play in your daily pursuits?

© 2026 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on May 1, 2026 in Encouragement, Relationships, Spiritual Walk

 

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Loving God with a Single Heart

29 Apr
Loving God with a Single Heart

I’ve been posting lately about how we should be showing our love for God. I just finished talking about loving the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Now I want to look a little deeper into our hearts.

Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.

Psalm 86:11 NIV

If you remember from one of my recent posts, it’s the direction of your heart that sets the direction of your life. So often we want God to move in our situation, and yet we’re pointing the wrong way.

I need an undivided heart toward the Lord. I need a heart that isn’t trying to go in two directions at the same time. It’s exhausting trying to live for God while running after other things.

In Scripture there are three things competing for your love. First of all, there are things competing for your worship. God told Israel that there would be those who would try to get them to worship other gods.

…you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Deuteronomy 13:3 NIV

God was not sending these false prophets to tempt Israel. But, He would use them as a test to see what was in the hearts of the Israelites.

This testing happens in every love relationship. Every choice that comes before us is a test.

In a marriage there’s sometimes a choice. Do you want to spend time watching the game or spending time with your wife.

“She doesn’t really care if I watch the game.”

That might be true. Or, maybe you’ve failed the test so often, that now it’s a moot point.

God already knows what’s in your heart. But the proof of it comes out in your choices.

David understood this truth.

Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth.

Psalm 26:2-3 NIV

He’s literally asking the Lord to test and examine his heart. That’s a dangerous prayer. How many of us would be willing to go before God with that request?

The Bible is very clear on what the areas of testing are that the Lord looks at. These next verses talk about what some “church people” will be like in the last days (which is right now!).

People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God…

2 Timothy 3:2-4 NIV

That last phrase is the most telling of our generation in the church. Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Pleasure is simply feeling good. We’re looking for whatever makes us feel good.

To truly show my love for the Lord, I must love God more than pleasure. That’s a big test. Are you a better friend to feeling good than to God? How much time do you spend trying to feel good? How much time do you spend pursuing God’s best?

If pleasure replaces God, something’s wrong. If you’re in that condition, then some priorities need to change. We need to examine ourselves regularly to make sure we’re on track.

Question: How does your life rate seeking pleasure versus seeking God?

© 2026 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on April 29, 2026 in Encouragement, Revival, Spiritual Walk

 

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Loving God with your Mind & Strength

27 Apr
Loving God with your Mind & Strength

Lately I’ve been posting about our love for the Lord. My last one was about having an undecaying love for Him. It’s taken from what Jesus said to His disciples.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

Mark 12:30 NIV

Today, I want to look at the second part of this verse. It’s another “thruster” that keeps our love for God from decaying.

I must love God with all my mind. This is an important concept to understand. If you remember from last time, our mind is the storage area for everything we’ve experienced. Because of this, we use our mind to sort everything out.

However, this verse uses a special word for mind. Jesus is not just talking about our surface thinking. This is speaking about our deep thinking.

Sometimes we say, “I’ll think about it.” But, what we actually mean is, “No, I don’t care about it.”

Other times we say, “I need to think this through.” That’s the word for mind used in this verse. It’s the place in our soul where we think things through.

Actually, the devil wants to keep us from deep thinking. He’s constantly trying to keep us looking for entertainment and amusement. The word, a-muse-ment literally means not thinking. If he can keep us busy, busy, busy, we’ll never think through our love for God.

The Bible says a lot about this area. Apart from Christ, our mind is a very dark place. This is why we must meditate on God’s Word. It brings light to our thinking. As we meditate, God writes His laws in us.

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

1 Peter 1:13 NIV

This verse literally says to gird the loins of your deep thinking. Wait a minute, I’ve heard that before in Scripture! In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul talks about the armor of God. With the very first piece – the belt of truth – he says to gird your loins with truth.

I believe that he’s talking about our minds. I’ve set my direction toward God. Am I willing to lay everything down for Him? If so, now I must think deeply about His truth and its affect on my life. That’s the belt that holds everything else on.

Next, Jesus said that I must love God with all my strength. This is the Greek word that means force. First of all, we must understand the difference between force and power.

Power is the capability to do something. It can be passive. A house can have power, yet be dark and cold inside. Nothing is plugged into the power. It’s like many Christians – they have the power of the Holy Spirit, but they’re not plugged in.

Force has direction and magnitude. When force is applied, something happens. Water boils, a baseball moves at 90mph, a bullet shoots, or a car moves.

I need to love God with all my force. Not just, “I love God in my heart”. Because even if that is true, you’re only one-quarter of the way to an undecaying love.

This is the “showing love” part of the equation. This is how you put your force into it.

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms…

Ephesians 1:18-20 NIV

When Christ plugged into the power, the force that was released raised Him from the dead. The effect of this force is resurrection power. But, more incredible than that, we’re told…

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

Ephesians 6:10 NIV

We’re told here to be endued with power – to plug into His power. In that way you can operate in His mighty force. This is the same force that raised Christ from the dead. Now this power can be used to show your love for God. Then it can be a truly undecaying love.

We must do what it takes to draw from His power to keep our love for Him in orbit. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Question: How well do you operate in this power to love the Lord?

© 2026 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on April 27, 2026 in Encouragement, Power of God, Spiritual Walk

 

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Loving God with an Undecaying Love

22 Apr
Loving God with an Undecaying Love

I’m continuing in my series about our love for God. In my last post I talked about the spiritual fragrance of that love. We are to portray the same aroma as Christ.

Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.

Ephesians 6:24 NIV

In this verse Paul tells us that there’s grace available to all who love Christ with an undecaying love. The problem is that we live in a world bound by decay. Everything runs down. We see it all around us.

Here we’re told that our love for God should not decay. How is that accomplished?

When a satellite is put into orbit, it immediately starts to decay. Eventually it will fall to earth and burn up in the atmosphere. That is, unless it uses power (thrusters) to maintain the orbit.

Where do we find the power to keep our love for God strong? Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment of Scripture was.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

Mark 12:30 NIV

It turns out that these are the four thrusters that keep our love in orbit around God. These are not four separate issues – they overlap in some areas. We have to understand that our walk with God is not based upon a single issue. Everything we do affects everything else.

First of all, I must love God with all my heart. You have a body, soul, and spirit. Your soul is who you are. Within your soul is your mind, which is the storage area for all of your experiences.

Also within your soul is your heart. You can look at your heart as the garden, full of good soil. It’s where the spiritual seed that you plant grows. Please understand, whatever you plant in your heart will grow – good or bad.

Within your heart are your intentions, it shows where you’re headed. What you place into your heart is where you’re going to end up eventually. It doesn’t matter what your mind thinks. Your heart sets the direction for your life.

That’s the importance of loving God with your heart.

And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Romans 5:5 NIV

Here’s where the power comes from for this thruster. God doesn’t just pour His love into our hearts. He uses the channel of the Holy Spirit. If I don’t give the Holy Spirit permission to pour into my life, then it’s not going to happen. If I spend time with the Spirit, then I get the reward.

The second thing Christ said was that I must love God with all my soul. As I’ve said, my soul is who I am. It’s the soul that’s the authority over my flesh. It’s the soul that decides to answer the demands of the spirit vs. the flesh.

If my heart is positioned to love God, then it’s that much easier for the soul to come into agreement. That’s because the soul has to do something that goes against its very nature.

John 15:13 NIV

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

What is your life? Many are more willing to die for Christ than to live for Him. How much of your money would you give up? How much of your time would you give up? How many of your plans would you give up? These are the issues of your soul.

What are you willing to put down in order to fulfill His plan? It’s easy to see that if God doesn’t have your heart, he won’t get your soul. Where your heart is, your treasure is. People are willing to lay everything down in search of treasure. Is God your treasure?

I’ll continue this in my next post.

Question; How far are you willing to go for Christ?

© 2026 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on April 22, 2026 in Encouragement, Spiritual Walk

 

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Imitating God’s Love

17 Apr
Imitating God’s Love

In my last post, I started to talk about loving God. We can’t begin to love Him properly without first experiencing the love of Christ.

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children…

Ephesians 5:1 NIV

We’re to imitate the Lord as dearly loved children. Notice that he does not say that we’re dearly loved people. He calls us children because it implies relationship. In this relationship is the principle of imitation.

That’s because in order to love God correctly, we must imitate His love. Being a part of God’s kingdom is a family relationship. Imitation is a big part of family life.

Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me.

1 Corinthians 4:15-16 NIV

Notice that because we’re in a family relationship, we must, therefore, imitate those who are further along than us. That’s what a family relationship is all about. This is why Paul could say, “I became your father – so imitate me.”

When you have a loving relationship between father and child, there’s a desire to imitate.

“I want to be just like him.”

There’s always a desire to imitate those we love. Wherever you place your love, there’s a tendency to imitate. Married couples tend to pick up some of the other’s traits. “Gangs” do the same sort of thing.

Those that you give your devotion to become objects of imitation. But that only comes by time spent with those persons.

Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love.

Psalm 48:9 NIV

This is an interesting verse in the original Hebrew. There’s actually no English word to translate the word, meditate, accurately. It means to consider, resemble, compare, or liken.

It’s saying that when I come into your presence, I begin to think deeply about who you are compared to who I am. Then I start to consider what I can do to resemble you. But, I have to experience His love in order to meditate on it to this level. Thank God, I have His Holy Spirit to guide me.

The more time I spend with the Lord, the more I become like Him. It’s not a matter of trying harder to be like Jesus. Imitation is a natural outgrowth of a close relationship.

It’s just like what happens in a natural family. We pick up the traits of those we live with. This includes attitudes and temperament. It also affects our likes and dislikes. It determines how we view the world around us.

For instance, I don’t really care about watching sports, which some people think is very weird. However, that’s simply because my parents never watched any sports while I was growing up. So it’s something I never got a taste for.

It works the same way in the spiritual world. By spending time with the Lord, I can begin to pick up His attitudes. I will start to love what He loves and dislike what He dislikes. I find myself treating people the same way that Christ did.

It doesn’t happen immediately. But, over time, I begin to recognize the changes taking place in me.

Spend quality time in the Lord’s presence. That’s the way to see lasting transformation.

Question: What are some of the positive changes you’ve seen in your spiritual life?

© 2026 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on April 17, 2026 in Encouragement, Prayer, Sonship, Spiritual Walk

 

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Loving God with a Clean Heart

15 Apr
Loving God with a Clean Heart

For the past few weeks I’ve been posting about the love of God. His love is so amazing that I probably only scratched the surface.

My goal was to give us what we need in order to show our love for the Lord. We needed that foundation to know how to love our God.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.”

John 15:9 NIV

Jesus, in His time with the disciples, passed on the love of the Father to us. By seeing how Jesus loved, we understand the Father’s love. He has asked us to remain, live, dwell, or abide in this love. This tells me that to love God we must draw from His love.

It’s only as I live in and experience the love of Christ, that I’m truly equipped to show love to Him. If I can’t receive His love, I can’t return it. I love Him because He first loved me. How is it that His love helps me to love Him?

Let’s look at one of the first places in Scripture that it tells us about how to love God.

The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.

Deuteronomy 30:6 NIV

Because of the wholehearted love which God has for us we need to return it. The problem is that we’re unable to. Our hearts are sinful, full of baggage, junk, and sin. Only He can perform the necessary surgery my heart needs.

In order to love God, our hearts must be circumcised. But, what does it mean to circumcise our hearts?

In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ,

Colossians 2:11 NIV

The fact is that there’s no way my sinful nature could ever love God. Or even want to love God, for that matter. There must be a work done in us by the Spirit of Christ.

This is why time with Him is so important. He does not do this work in us without our permission. In Philippians 3:18-19, Paul wrote that many believers live as enemies of the cross. Their focus is on earthly things. The way God loves us, He doesn’t deserve that kind of treatment.

For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh…

Philippians 3:3 NIV

This is how a life of loving God should be. We must allow the Holy Spirit to lead us into the love and worship of God.

The truth is that our flesh cannot and will not free itself from the stain of sin. The clean-up process must come from an outside source – the Holy Spirit.

As I spend time in the spirit, I am allowing the Holy Spirit to do the work of spiritual circumcision that only He can do. He can bring my heart to the place where I can truly love God in the way that He deserves.

It’s not a matter of more will power or trying harder. It’s making yourself available to the Spirit for Him to accomplish that transforming work. That’s why it’s so important to spend time daily in the Lord’s presence.

Question: How much time do spend daily in prayer and in the Word of God?

© 2026 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on April 15, 2026 in Encouragement, Prayer, Prayer in the Spirit, Revival, Spiritual Walk

 

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