Why dont i love god

I feel like I don't love God with all my heart soul and mind. Ibelieve I'm a christian because I believe the gospel and i called on the lord to save me when i was 5 years old (yes I understood the praecher and prayed with a very sincere heart). Since that time, i've tried to grow in Christ, but I feel like I don't have that Christian love i'm supposed to have. I try to obey God and am always seeking his will for my life-I would really like to be a missionary, but I feel like I have the wrong motivation. I know that serving God will make ME happy, but I don't think my attitude, my willingness to serve is love for God. I do love God, at least I thnk I do. I am very thankful that he sent his Son to die for me. I know I would rather die than deny Christ, but even 1 Corinthians 13 says that without love this profits me nothing. I feel haunted by the words if you don't have love you don't have God, I cant believe I don't have God. Maybe I love him with all my mind, but not all my heart, if that seems possible. Somehow though there is a disconnect between my head and my heart. I'm not sure what to do. I read in Galatians a couple of days ago that one of the fruits of the spirit is love. I have asked God to give me this love, but it is hard for me to have faith that he will since i have lived my whole life without it. i feel perplexed and I am wondering what some other christians think about this.

Hello and welcome Smithaw. I think that you do love God because from your post you stated that you accepted Jesus in your life and heart. You desire His perfect Will in your life and are obedient to Him. I believe the love you are referring to is agape love.

You asked for suggestions, mine is to continue your walk with Christ, seek him in all things, continue in your obedience to Him and His Word. Draw closer to Jesus through prayer, fasting, reading the Bible. Ask God to reveal what's lacking in your love, he will reveal it to you and help you. God bless you.

The bible tells us not to trust our feelings, God is smarter than that, and he will work in your life as long as you continue to allow him to. I agree with fiat's suggestions. Don't worry about not feeling "full of love" all the time, these are the times when we should really focus on our faith, rather than questioning it. I will keep you in my prayers!

I would agree with everything that has already been said. Having read your thread it seems pretty obvious to me that you do love God. The fact that you would rather die than deny Christ speaks for itself. I can relate to the fact that the love you have for God can be very different to the love you have for a wife or mother or child. It is very different and hard to explain but I know I love God even during those difficult times when I don't really feel it. God knows your heart and your motives so rest assured that God understands your struggles and concerns and His love is being poured out into your life and I would just encourage you to hold onto Jesus keep praying and know that you do love Him and He loves you. *not everyone is called to be a missionnary and if it's your hearts desire to pursue this calling then I would encourage you to pray about it. The fact that your even considering it proves that there is a love for God and a desire to do His will.

I'm praying for you also. Godbless..

Hello Smit, I believe that love towards god can be just like love to another person. You appreciate something about them enough to serve them. Love can be exercised. And made stronger. The ultimate example of love, in my opinion, is a mother's. a mother goes through pain for her children and is extreemly focused on them. And I don't think anyone comes out loving a person more than their mother. Love is a desire for someone, because of an understanding of who they are. It can be magnified by acting on those desires. Sacrifice for another person ( painfull sacrifice for thier cause) Does more to Strengthen your love for them than anything. Jesus said inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these ye have done it unto me. My suggestion to you is: Take the time to ponder on what things god has made you happy with. And then out of gratitude for him ( because of those things) Do somehting for his cause. Try to help others gain those things that you are thankfull for ( for this is his cause, to help everyone have happyness). Start out with the things that you can do for him now, and keep in mind always the reasons you are doing them. After a while if you're continually looking for things to serve your fellow man ( for god) then you will find something that is hard for you to choose to do. If you can congure up enough thankfulness and love to do those things, then I'm sure your mind will understand more about him and why he sent his son, and your appreciation and love will grow more stronger The appostles often said that they rejoiced in thier extreemly hard afflictions. I believe this is because they we're focused on Jesus in thier hearts, and minds, and felt more love when they were being bull wipt and stoned for his sake than at any other time in their lifes.

The Lord suffered all things for us.

Hello Smithaw. We sing a song in our church that goes like this "I love you Jesus, with all of my heart and all of my soul and all of my mind....And I would go to the ends of the earth for You" I stood in church singing that song coming to the unhappy realisation that in fact I don't love Jesus in such a profound way as this. And I wondered, would I go to the ends of the earth for God? I would like to think so, but somehow I doubt it. What I do know is that God HAS already gone to the ends of the earth for ME and for YOU. I wish I loved God more than I do, but the reality is that I don't. Fortunately, even though I don't love God with all of my heart and strength, He loves me with all of His heart and strength. It is the glorious and gracious truth of the Gospels (fortunately) that our salvation rests not on how much we love God, but on how much He loves us.

AMEN.

And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. 2Jn1:6
This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, -1Jn5:2-3

Hi, I would like to interject here if you will. As someone already stated, "If you love me, keep my commandments." Real love is not about "feeling" the love in your heart. That's puppy love. A real and more mature love develops over time. To show we love God, we keep his commandments. It's not about feeling if you love him, it's about doing what you ought to.

Seek Christ alone - forget about your feelings.

Hi, I would like to interject here if you will. As someone already stated, "If you love me, keep my commandments." Real love is not about "feeling" the love in your heart. That's puppy love. A real and more mature love develops over time. To show we love God, we keep his commandments. It's not about feeling if you love him, it's about doing what you ought to.

Thumbs up on this one. Love is an ACTIVE VERB. Grammar put aside, love is something we DO, not just something we feel.

Matthew 25:35-40: I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the king will answer them, 'I tell you the truth, just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.' :)

I feel like I don't love God with all my heart soul and mind. . . . i feel perplexed and I am wondering what some other christians think about this.

Dear smithaw, We, as humans, even humans who were once born from above, cannot Love God with all of our heart and mind and soul and strength. It's impossible - that is, without specific, subsequent to salvation, interventions by, and additional Graces from, God himself. There are just too many elements dwelling within us to Love God, for they are enemies of God. For example, 1 Jn. 2:15 says that we cannot truly Love if the love of the world is in us. That one impure love in us alone - and it is in all of us until it is specifically, miraculously ripped out by God - prevents us from Loving God. So then it should be quite reasonable to expect that if we are to Love God as the Words commands and requires, and as you expressed desire, that first we would have to have God remove those enemies of Love from within us, correct? These enemies of Love and of God are sometimes termed heart idols. Besides that idol of our love for the worldly that all have, we may also have various other lusts, pride and its resultant arrogance, "envy and strife" (KJV), a "root of bitterness," unforgiveness, etc., etc. Each person has their own set of idols, some common to all and others specific. God knows exactly what the idols in you are. He has a plan, a timetable for wanting to remove them from you, one by one until all are gone. By the time this is finished by Him in you, after you are delivered from all of your idols, you will find yourself with His Love perfected in your heart, and thus you will perfectly and completely Love both Him and all human beings. After all, this is what the Word commands and requires, and God would be a hypocrite to say that we needed to Love Him and all people unconditionally, if He did not also provide the Graces whereby this could be done, correct? The steps of Grace leading to eternal Life are sometimes manifested in us instantly, and others over a period of time. When you were born from above at the age of five, this is an example of one of those instant transformations. Well, there is also available another instantly given Grace. It is the fullness of God's Love, a Spirit of Love if you will (whether lit. or fig.). When you receive it, and this is done exactly the same way that we receive the New Birth, you will find yourself instantly and miraculously having Love for both God and every human being on this planet. (You can read some personal testimonies to this on the site EnterHisRest.org - click on the "Testimonies" section, and then on the "Heritage Testimonies" subsection. Be careful though: always sift, sift, sift.) When we instantly receive the fullness of God's Love, this still does not mean that it has been perfected in our heart (as is spoken of in John's epistles as a requirement for eternal Life). That's the next step of Grace, and that one takes time. But eventually that instantly received "Spirit of Love" will bring all other facets of your being into alignment with God's Word, if you let it, if you stay out of its way. This Love of God perfected in our heart will result after other idols have been ripped out, such as that one we all have for the love of money/the world. To get started, you will probably first need to be delivered from some idol which is currently at work in you and which opposes God's Love. He does not want to give you the fullness of His Love if He knows that you will disobey it and not let it be manifested when God wants it to be, all because some enemy of Love still in you will prevent it. To do otherwise would just result in even more sin by you, and God does not want to give you something that will make you sin even more than you presently do by not fully Loving Him. The problem is, you likely do not even know what this idol is that stands in the way of His Love. Our hearts are deceptive to us and it hides its idols from our awareness. So you must seek a specific, divine revelation from God as to what this first idol needing to be ripped out is. You need to see it as God sees it. And He's been waiting since you were five years old to show it to you and reveal its evil. So you can either wait until that idol begins to destroy your life, and then fall upon the Rock for a revelation of, and deliverance from, it, or you can begin by setting yourself apart in a prayer "closet" for an hour or two or whatever each day, and do not stop until God has revealed this idol in you that is an enemy to His Love. Both ways work. When you finally convince Him that you really want to know, and really want to Love Him more than the idol - this may take some time, He will reveal it, and also be standing by to give you godly sorrow for it, repentance from it, and then His forgiveness for, and deliverance from, it. After we are delivered from an idol, we have every right in Christ Jesus to expect a holy substitute be given us from Heaven in its sted. You should expect from Him the instant fullness of His Love. If He gives you some other virtue of Christ first instead, such as Joy or Peace or whatever, then proceed to find out the next idol needed for you to be delivered from. Either first or eventually, after whatever idol or idols are preventing Him from giving you His Love, is/are removed, you will instantly get the fullness of His Love. Guaranteed by Jesus. Be careful: after you have had this/these mountaintop experience(s) of deliverance and holy substitution(s), do not make an idol of the heart out of that/those too. There's always a next step still needing to be made. And we must also always keep our heart guarded from those idols we were once delivered from, from re-entering. Keep your heart guarded, for its 7 times harder to get delivered the second time. I know.

"[You] must decrease; He must increase" - John the Baptist

God bless you in the pursuit of Him and His Love, brother jim

Hi, I would like to interject here if you will. As someone already stated, "If you love me, keep my commandments." Real love is not about "feeling" the love in your heart. That's puppy love. A real and more mature love develops over time. To show we love God, we keep his commandments. It's not about feeling if you love him, it's about doing what you ought to.

colossi: Amen. Ours is a spiritual walk; James says, sweet and bitter water ought not flow out of the same spring. If the Holy Spirit is not the guardian and help of our spirit, we soon fall back into watching our behavior and everyone else's rather than keep our eyes on Jesus and believe he is our righteousness. In Eph Ap Paul writes, Be therefore followers of God as dear children and walk in love as Christ also has loved us and has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. But fornication and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not once be named among yoou as is becoming to saints. Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking nor jesting, which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks...let no man deceive you with vain words; for because of these things comes the wrath of God upon children of disobedience." Easy to see we're all guilty of some of those things, but we also have a ready advocate at hand: Jesus the High Priest praying that our faith not fail, and AP John says, "My little children let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows all things. AP Paul confirms this, "We have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba - Father. The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." If we say, Father, 'I don't find love in my heart, yet your word requires it of me; give me grace to not hinder your love to work through me in Christ Jesus', he will hear us. We are his workmanship in Christ Jesus.

The Father works faith in our hearts. [this faith is not ours but that of the Son: "The life that I now live in the flesh, I live through the faith of the son Of God who loved me and gave himself for me".] Neither is the love ours, for "God is love" and faith works through love. This is how we know that faith can't be had without love, nor love without faith. Living faith has its signs. It has all the treasure of God in Christ.