God loves us. He chose us before the creation of the world with love, cared about our safety even until the last moment when He breathed His last breath on the cross, and loves us constantly, even at this very moment.

Do we truly love God? Although we are now walking the path of faith in God, let us take some time to think again about whether we truly love God.

The Bible says, “May those who love you [Jerusalem] be secure” (Ps 122:6), and, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Co 2:9). In this spiritual Jubilee year, I want us all to cherish love for God in our hearts and to walk joyfully with God, so that we can all receive the grace and blessings which God has prepared for us and go to the kingdom of heaven, as heavenly children.

If I could be born as my mother’s mother

Recently I read a story entitled, “If I Could Be Born Again in the World!” on the Internet: A middle school teacher gave his students a writing assignment during class. The teacher suggested the subject, “If I could be born again in the world,” and asked them to write an essay. Among the essays submitted by the students, there was a remarkable story that definitely caught his attention. It was written by a disabled student who attended school on a wheelchair with his mother’s help.

His story begins with his wish: “If I could be born again in the world, I would be my mother’s mother.” The reason described below shows what was in his mind; he thought about how much his mother had suffered to accompany him to and from school and to take care of him day and night. Considering the incalculable amount of love he had received from his mother, he came to the conclusion that he could not repay his mother’s love no matter how devoted and obedient he was to her and that the only way to repay his mother for her tremendous love was to become his mother’s mother.

He could wish to be born again healthy to become an athlete or a high jumper. Yet he did not wish for himself. He only thought about what he should do to repay the love and devotion his mother gave to him, solely wishing for her son to succeed in life. So, he came to have such a praiseworthy and mature thought for his age: ‘If I could be born again, I would be my mother’s mother and repay her incalculable love and sacrifice for me.’

This story, though short, leaves a great and lasting impression on our minds. We tend to think about our hard times first. The student, however, thought about his mother, who sacrificed herself for him, more than himself. So, he wrote this in his story: “If I could be born again, I would be my mother’s mother.”

Let us not only think of our pain and fatigue, but think of the path of sacrifice Heavenly Mother is walking for us, Her children. I want us all to keep Mother’s sacrifice deep in our hearts, like the student in the story, so we can be devoted to Mother as Her children.

“Do you love me?”

Church is not only a place where there are rituals and regulations for worship, but it is a place where God, who is love, bestows His love on His children and they love Him. When we worship God, we should have love for God in our hearts. If we hold a worship service without love for God, just according to regulations and rituals, it cannot be a sacrifice of joy that God desires.

We should give our hearts completely to God (Mt 22:35–38). Just as the student in the story wanted to repay the love of his mother who had suffered for him, so should we: With a heart full of love for God, we should go to church, keep the Sabbath, celebrate the Passover, and run towards the kingdom of heaven.

Let us think about Peter and Judas Iscariot among Jesus’ twelve disciples. At first, both of them became His disciples, saying they would follow Him wherever He went. However, while one of them loved Jesus and followed Him till the end by walking the path of martyrdom, the other betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver and handed him over to be crucified. There was a tremendous difference in outcome between the person who fully loved God and the one who didn’t.

Jn 21:15–17 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” when He entrusted him with His flock. “Do you love me?” “Yes, Lord.” “Do you love me?” “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Peter loved Jesus so much, and it became the foundation of the early Church.

If God asks us the same question today, shouldn’t we answer Him from our hearts, “Yes, Lord”? Let us think about the sacrifice of Father and Mother who went through the pain of the cross to save us and came again in the flesh and have been suffering for us until this very day. We simply think of the sacrifice of the cross. Until it was fulfilled, however, there had been a sacrifice for sins every day for over 1,500 years from the time of Moses to the time of Jesus; each and every sin offering represented God’s suffering and sacrificial love. God has come to this earth to save us His children, sinners, and is still suffering for our sins, even to the point of death. We often forget this fact.

Why did God come to this earth and was slandered by people even though He could choose to rest comfortably in the glorious kingdom of heaven? It was all because of us; He loved us so much that He did it all for us.

Those who love God

Those who love God will never betray Him even if He does not pay them much for their work or does not give them a high position. Judas Iscariot did not have the love of God in his heart. He loved money more than God.

Let us walk the path of faith by loving God wholeheartedly and following Him till the end, as Peter did. If we realize the love of God and always think about what we can and should do to repay God’s love, we will not be foolish like Judas Iscariot.

Ex 20:6 “. . . showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

God shows love to a thousand generations of those who love Him. What a great blessing! God does not give a great reward to anyone. When we think about this carefully, we can see that although there are countless people in the world, only a few truly love God.

Dt 13:1–3 If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.

The Bible says that God is testing us to find out whether we love Him with all our heart and with all our soul. Sometimes, however, we love ourselves more than God and think of our own glory more than God’s glory. While living that way, we talk about God’s grace and sacrifice. How regrettable!

Instead of just thinking about our own situations, let us focus on God. We need to always think about why Father and Mother, Elohim the Almighty, came to this earth in the flesh, giving up all Their rights, and dwell with us, and we must revere Father and Mother. Those who think of God’s glory and pain first are the ones who truly love God.

Jdg 5:31 “So may all your enemies perish, O LORD! But may they who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength. Then the land had peace forty years.”

This is a scene where Deborah, a prophetess, asks God to bless those who love Him. She prayed to God to let all His enemies perish and those who love Him be like the sun when it rises in its strength.

To be spiritually powerful as God’s children, we need to have love for God in our hearts above all else. Ask yourself how much you love God, instead of thinking, ‘I preach and teach God’s word well,’ ‘I’m a group leader,’ or, ‘I’m a pastoral staff member.’ God did not ask, “What is your position or title?” or, “Is there anything you can do well?” but He only asked, “Do you love me?” God will seek His children who answer Him, “Yes!” from their hearts when He asks them the question.

Receiving glory by loving God

Solomon’s wisdom and glory, and Israel’s prosperity during Solomon’s time—all these came from a heart full of love for God.

1 Ki 3:3–10 Solomon showed his love for the LORD by walking according to the statutes of his father David . . . Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” Solomon answered, “. . . you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.

If Solomon had not loved God, he would have asked God for something he desired for his own sake, when he was given a chance to receive God’s blessings. However, he asked for wisdom to distinguish between right and wrong and to make right judgments for God’s people, so that they would not be unjustly accused and condemned to death. God was pleased by what Solomon asked for.

Those who love God can always have thoughts that are in line with God’s will. God has promised to give His people an undivided heart (Eze 11:19–20). In order for us, all brothers and sisters, to have an undivided heart that conforms to God’s, we need to cherish love for God in our hearts.

There is also a definite reason we should love God. We were languishing in sin; we were the spiritually disabled people, who would die forever if left alone. No one was concerned about us, except our Heavenly Father and Mother. To save us by any means necessary, our Father came to this earth and suffered for thirty-seven years and our Mother is still with us.

Were our Heavenly Father and Mother treated well while in the flesh on this earth? If They were, the prophecies of the Bible would not be fulfilled. They prayed anxiously for us, Their children, day and night, and bore the yoke of all our sins alone. They were ridiculed, persecuted and betrayed, but They did not care about it at all; They endured all the sufferings, only wishing Their children to be saved. Is there anyone who would go again to a place where his or her life was threatened? To save us, however, God came to this earth again, where He was once put to death.

Let us not just focus on our own pain and distress, but think of God who has suffered for us and endure all the hardships. Realizing the love of God who has sacrificed for us, we should give thanks and glory to God from deep within our hearts, full of love for God. If God asks us, “What will you do if you are born again?” shouldn’t we answer, “We will love You, Heavenly Father and Mother, even more, as Your loving children”? I would like to ask you all to think about what you can do for God who has sacrificed for us.

“I love You, God”

Since Solomon had love for God in his heart, God gave him wisdom and helped him prosper in everything he did. David, Solomon’s father, also loved God whole-heartedly. In the book of Psalms, we can find the theme of his song—“I love you, O LORD!”

Ps 18:1–11I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies. The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears . . .

David begins this psalm with a statement of phrase, “I love you, O LORD, my strength.” All the Biblical heroes such as David and Solomon, who were saved, achieved great things because they had love for God in their hearts, not because they felt a sense of duty or obligation. If we do something simply out of a sense of duty, we will find it hard to do it, feeling distressed and helpless, as time goes by. However, if we do it with love, we won’t feel that way. As for parents who have a sick child, they do not feel tired at all even though they spend many sleepless nights taking care of their child to save his or her life. That is the power of love.

If you find it hard to do the gospel work, think about whether or not you truly love God. When we do something, thinking that we do it because it has been entrusted to us, we get tired easily. If we do it with love for God in our hearts, we don’t feel tired at all. Things done without love are totally meaningless (1 Co 13:1–3). Only when we do things with love for God in our hearts can we say that we work for the sake of the gospel.

If we have only received love from God until now, from now on we should return God’s love even just a little bit. When we give glory to God, honor Him, and love Him all the time like David and Solomon did, God will give us much wisdom and blessing.

There are so many people in the world who love themselves more than God. However, we love God. With a heart full of love and faith toward God, let us give more glory to Heavenly Father and Mother and follow Them wherever They lead us, so that we can all go together hand in hand to the eternal kingdom of heaven which Father and Mother have prepared for us.