By Pastor Naomi Mitchell
For Carter County Times
“For the love of God” is an old-fashioned expression used as an oath of shock, exasperation, annoyance, frustration, or anger. “For the love of God, I didn’t even see that car coming!” “Would you let me finish my story, for the love of God?” “Oh, for the love of God, I just had the car fixed and now you’ve put a dent in it!”
It’s an oath of shock to express one’s anger, exasperation, and frustration with someone or something. I have heard people use this expression several times in my life and I am sure you have, too. People don’t realize they are using the Lord’s name in vain. The meaning of “for the love of God” is used to give added force to an angry statement. I ask you a question, If it wasn’t “for the love of God” where would you be today?
The real “for the love of God” meaning can be found all throughout the Bible. Because of the “love of God” for us He sent His only begotten Son that we might have eternal life. God’s love truly was in Jesus who became a sacrifice for us so we could be redeemed from our sin.
In the Bible, Jesus tells us how to love God: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). In other words, God wants us to love Him with our whole being and in every possible way. God’s own Son taught us to love God the Father with everything we are. Saying this was the first and greatest of all the commandments (verse 38).
We love God by keeping His commands and doing His will (John 14:15, 23; 1 John 5:3; 2 John 1:6; Psalm 40:8). Jesus said the second greatest command, which is like the first, is to love others, and the measure by which we are to love them is as much as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:39). It is impossible to genuinely love the Lord without loving other people, for the desire within God’s heart is to love others.
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent His only Son into the world . . . as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (1 John 4:7–11). Because of God’s love for us, we are bound to love one another. Demonstration of that love is carried out in part by reproducing His life in others as we spread the gospel of His kingdom.
God desires to have an intimate love relationship with us. Our love for Him is a response to His divine love for us (1 John 4:19). We express our love for God by spending time in His presence, enjoying His nearness, listening to His voice, reading His Word, and daily seeking to know Him better. As the apostle Paul said, “Whoever loves God is known by God” (1 Corinthians 8:3).
Perhaps one of the purest examples in the Bible of how to love God comes from an unnamed woman who anointed the Lord’s feet with her perfume (Luke 7:36–50). So grateful was she for Christ’s forgiveness of her many sins that she poured out her love in extravagant worship and absolute devotion. This woman appreciated the true worth of her Savior, and in humble gratitude, sacrifice, and servitude, she loved and worshiped Jesus with her tears, her hair, her kisses, and her priceless bottle of perfume. She loved God with all she was and everything she had to offer. Jesus didn’t become angry and say, “Woman, for the love of God don’t embarrass me in front of these people!”
Remember, “Whoever loves God is known by God” (1 Corinthians 8:3). Amen! So be it!
JOYFUL House of Prayer, 2519 Quicksand Road, (P.O. Box 856), Jackson, Kentucky 41339. Send Comments/Prayer Requests: Pastornaomi4god@gmail.com. FB: JoyfulHoprayer. Services: 10am Sunday and Joyful Kids Class at 10:30am, 6:30pm Thursdays. Radio Broadcast: WJSN 97.3 FM & WEKG 81.0 AM Sundays 1-2pm.
I loved this 😢 pastor Naomi