WHY DOES GOD NEVER REQUIRE ANYONE TO LOVE HIM?

By Dan Delzell, Christian Post Contributor Wednesday, January 24, 2024

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Imagine having a son, daughter, or partner created by artificial intelligence. While you can program them to behave the way you want, you won't be forever satisfied with these machines. The robot will not give you valuable feelings of warmth, affection, kindness, and appreciation; it will not give you true love, joy, or satisfaction.

The same process applies to God. Obviously, he can make man "love" and "obey" him, but that is not important to God because such a being would not be able to love his Creator freely.

Instead, God used the free will of Adam and Eve to create. Likewise, you and I were created in God's image (Genesis 1:26–27). God consists of three persons in one God: the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit. Moreover, you and I were created as three in one: body, soul, and spirit (I Thessalonians 5:23).

One day, Jesus asked, "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind," Jesus answered in Matthew 22:36–37.

However, how is that possible? First, you must have an immortal soul, which includes your mind and heart. God endowed you with the "components" required to exercise your free will. Sin separates us from God. Thankfully, Jesus came into the world to fix this and pay for our sins by dying on the cross. Those who repent of their sins and accept Christ as Savior (John 1:12) have an eternal relationship with their Creator.

God never forces anyone to believe the good news of the gospel. This is recorded in John 3:16. Moreover, once you become a member of God's family through faith in Jesus, God will never force you to love him. Instead, he longs for you to love him freely, just as he chose to love you freely by releasing his only son to die to replace you. God made that great sacrifice because he wanted to spend your lifetime in heaven with you.

You will not know what it is like to receive a new heart and mind to love God if you are not already a follower of Christ. Trying to love God without repenting is the same as trying to love a partner who is imposed on you. In contrast, true love involves the freedom to choose.

In John 14:15, Jesus said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." Those who want to do that are those who truly love and obey God. No one encourages them to do that. Whether you believe it or not, God loves his children. This is shown in the verse, "God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

You should address that issue with your Creator if you currently have no desire or interest in loving God. You must go to the well if you want living water (John 7:37–39) and to the "bread of life" if you want food for your soul (John 6:35–38). Go directly to God in prayer and say what you want if you want more than a mechanical religious ritual and a mechanical relationship with your Creator.

The human heart becomes harder on God because of sin, which makes us see God as a hard employer rather than a kind and loving father and friend. Those who are born again see God in a different way than those who leave God's family. To change your views and be in line with the truth, you must repent of your sin and accept Jesus as your Savior.

It makes no sense for man to love God; it is something extraordinary. "We love because he loved us first" (John 4:19). While sin causes people to become angry toward their Creator, God allows us to love him. When things don't go our way, it's easy to blame God. Blaming God only makes things worse.

There is no light at the end of the tunnel when you have no hope. God is the maker of infinite hope, love, and joy. However, you can only answer this question yourself: "Will I come to my Creator with a humble heart, repentance, and faith to receive the new heart necessary to love God?"”

God will never force you to love him. Instead, as you repent and turn to your Creator in faith, he invites you to receive forgiveness for your sins. Would you rather remain in spiritual darkness and away from God forever, or would you like to gain a new heart that loves God with joy and freedom?

"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13). "Choose whom you will serve today" (Joshua 24:15). If you refuse to join Christ today, the person you see in the mirror is the only person who can make you say "no" to God.

Additionally, Delzell served as pastor at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Papillion, Nebraska.

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