Young Adults' Group

Principles To Learn How To Love The Lord

by Pastor Mark
January 18, 2018

Thank God for the India Family Camp

We thank God for another wonderful India IPC Family Camp. We had three full days of camp…to the study the word of God and to fellowship together. The theme was “You shall love the Lord your God” (Deut 6:5). Loving God is not something that is easily done. We tend to assume that we love God but in reality, we may not truly love the Lord as we should. The challenge was given for us to understand what it means to love the Lord. We recognise that there are many problems that prevent us from loving the Lord. But we could find practical solutions to our problems. Our challenge is to practise our love for the Lord.

The principles of loving God

Pastor Charles taught us principles to learn how we may love God that made an impact upon me. He drew these principles from the example of David when he wrote Ps 18. David had discovered and experienced the Lord as His strength, His rock and fortress. As he experienced these things, he developed principles as to how he should love the Lord.

1. Planning to love the Lord

David planned to love the Lord. He wrote, “I will love you, O Lord” (Ps 18:1) When we do not plan to love the Lord, we will fail to do so. We plan for our future, for our career and for our family. Do we plan to love the Lord? David sought to write all he did in the Psalm to share how he was planning to increase His love for the Lord. Let us be challenged to plan to love the Lord in the year ahead!

2. Prayer as a means to love the Lord

“I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised.” (Ps 18:3)

David prayed by calling upon the Lord. He prayed with all his heart, all his soul and all his strength. While we plan to love, we must also pray to commune with the Lord. We should not be praying for things only about ourselves. We want to see prayer as a means to love the Lord. Let us be challenged to pray and to call out to the Lord.

3. Practise loving the Lord

One thing that we see David doing in this psalm is that he would repeat different things. He repeated his call to God. He looked to God as a shield and a deliverer a number of times. This would indicate that David was seeking to practise his love for the Lord. It was not just about planning and praying. Let us be challenged to practise loving the Lord.

4. Persevering in love

As David sought to practise love, we recognise that it was not easy. He sought to persevere in love. No matter what he was going through, he sought to love. Over the 50 verses that David wrote in this psalm, he sought to love the Lord throughout. We will be facing all kinds of challenges in the year ahead. Let us be encouraged to persevere in love.

5. Progress in our love

As we seek to persevere, we should also see progress in our love for the Lord. If we seek to fulfil our plan to love, we would be able to see progress from strength to strength…to increase our love for the Lord. David grew in his love for the Lord over time. Let us be challenged to truly progress in our love for the Lord over time. Let us be challenged to adopt these principles of loving the Lord this year!

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