But he who keeps (treasures) His Word [who bears in mind His precepts, who observes His message in its entirety], truly in him has the love of and for God been perfected (completed, reached maturity). 1 John 2:5 (AMPC) Over the past few days we’ve been discussing how to develop your love walk with God. One way is by learning what God says in the Bible and obeying what it teaches. It may seem strange, but as you begin to obey God’s Word in the little things and the big things, something starts to change in you. Your love for Him begins to grow. I love the way the Amplified Bible puts today’s verse. It talks about treasuring God’s Word and about having God’s love …

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. 1 John 4:7–8 (NIV) Becoming a Christian is a fantastic first step. But if you want your life to change, develop your love walk. It’s like marriage. Some think that if they can just catch their spouse, they’ll be happy for life. All the work goes into getting married and then they imagine it’s going to be smooth sailing from there. But when a couple gets married, they share the potential to build on their love. They need to keep spending time together, getting to know each other and discovering …

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:10 (NIV) I grew up in a small town in the prairies. If you visit that area in the spring, you can look out on elds of black soil ready for planting as far as the eye can see. You can also see granaries holding the seed to be planted. If you visit in late summer, things look very different. The granaries are empty, and instead of black soil, you can see ripe grain waving in the wind. But before the farmers could even think about reaping that harvest, they had to do the work of getting the seed …

Let the word [spoken by] Christ (the Messiah) have its home [in your hearts and minds] and dwell in you in [all its] richness. Colossians 3:16 (AMPC) God’s Word is key when it comes to developing your love for God, which makes perfect sense when you think about it. A er all, you can begin to fall in love with someone just by reading letters they’ve written to you. One couple I know of began planning their wedding after only meeting once. They had been writing each other for months and had fallen in love. It’s clear that written words can be powerful, but God’s Word is even more so. According to Hebrews 4:12, God’s Word is “alive and active” (NIV). It powerfully affects the …

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:1–2 (NIV) One thing that was very apparent in my dad was his love for Jesus. Just mentioning the name Jesus would cause his face to light up, and he said Jesus’ name like it was a term of endearment. He loved God with all his heart. His work as a pastor was a labour of love. He pastored for decades and never let go of his passion and joy for the ministry—loving and sharing Jesus with people everywhere he went. How did he do it? He developed his love …