Do You Love Me?
My daughter is taking a Bible course at Liberty University and asked me a simple question that opened floodgates for me. She wanted to know what it meant that God wants us to love Him of our own free will and why even put the forbidden tree in the garden. When I read it, I smiled and thought to myself, “That’s simple.” But as I typed out my answer, it was so much more. Let me explain. God does want us to love Him of our own free will. This means He wants us to CHOOSE to love Him rather than forcing us to love Him. To me, love is so much more than a feeling or an emotion. I defined love as choosing to put the needs and well-being of another ahead of your own. If we are forced to do this, it’s not love but obedience. I went on to explain that in loving God, obedience is an expression of our love for Him. John 14:21-24 breaks this down for us. Jesus speaks and tells us basically, that if we truly love Him, we will obey Him. It’s important to note that we obey