How to love God?

[tobbias88]

So many people, so many faiths say ‘I love God’. Yet what exactly does that mean?

To say ‘I fear God’ or *‘I hate God’ *is easily understood. We fear eternal punishment; we hate our present condition and blame ‘God’.

But to say ‘I love God’ seems to be a vacuous, even meaningless statement. I can love my children, my parents, my wife, my pets…even the flowers in my garden. But God? What is he? Who is he? Does anyone really love the Holy Ghost? How can you love a spirit?

How can we love a non-physical, unknowable, remote untouchable entity? Saying God is love, God is mercy, God is just, is simply giving human attributes to God. Can God be any of these things? These are human qualities.

All a believer can say is that God is but even that is questionable since He is but not in any knowable way. A rock is but will eventually erode, a planet is?..a star is?.. but they will all eventually cease to exist. So God does not exist in that sense. If He is beyond Time and Space then to humans he is unknowable.

So when people say ‘I love God’ do they simply mean Jesus Christ? That is easy. If some guy died for me or in my place then I would be always grateful, always honor him and never forget him.

‘You can come to the Father only thru’ me’ is so true in so many ways. Without Jesus we really have no concept of a loving Godhead and wouldn’t dare approach it. We would dimly grasp the wrathful OT version. But when Jesus referred to Him as ‘Our Father’ then the scales fell from our eyes. If you don’t love your father then who do you love? Whatever God is, he loves us, cares for us and wants us to be with him some day.

Gee, seems I have answered my own question… Any thoughts? Have you wrestle with this problem of loving God? ( not in the person of Jesus Christ).

 

[Julian0404]

John 3:16 explains the level of GOD’s love for us.
The cross explains the commitment and level of JESUS love for us.
Despite all our words and actions, when our time comes to embrace our cross, will we kiss it as JESUS kissed HIS cross or will we deny it and do everything to avoid it?
I think of “Love of GOD” as an action, i.e. prayer, meditation, fasting, charity and preparing every day to perhaps embrace our cross on that day. A physical or mental activity of moving toward GOD.

 

[colmcille1]

Hi tobbias,
I think that if we start from the premise ‘God is Love’ we can see that our very feeling of love can be sourced to Him. The intensity of that love depends on our strength of belief. This is how I view it at least.
God Bless,
Colmcille.

 

[Pieman333272]

So many people, so many faiths say ‘I love God’. Yet what exactly does that mean?

To say ‘I fear God’ or *‘I hate God’ *is easily understood. We fear eternal punishment; we hate our present condition and blame ‘God’.

But to say ‘I love God’ seems to be a vacuous, even meaningless statement. I can love my children, my parents, my wife, my pets…even the flowers in my garden. But God? What is he? Who is he? Does anyone really love the Holy Ghost? How can you love a spirit?

How can we love a non-physical, unknowable, remote untouchable entity? Saying God is love, God is mercy, God is just, is simply giving human attributes to God. Can God be any of these things? These are human qualities.

All a believer can say is that God is but even that is questionable since He is but not in any knowable way. A rock is but will eventually erode, a planet is?..a star is?.. but they will all eventually cease to exist. So God does not exist in that sense. If He is beyond Time and Space then to humans he is unknowable.

So when people say ‘I love God’ do they simply mean Jesus Christ? That is easy. If some guy died for me or in my place then I would be always grateful, always honor him and never forget him.

‘You can come to the Father only thru’ me’ is so true in so many ways. Without Jesus we really have no concept of a loving Godhead and wouldn’t dare approach it. We would dimly grasp the wrathful OT version. But when Jesus referred to Him as ‘Our Father’ then the scales fell from our eyes. If you don’t love your father then who do you love? Whatever God is, he loves us, cares for us and wants us to be with him some day.

Gee, seems I have answered my own question… Any thoughts? Have you wrestle with this problem of loving God? ( not in the person of Jesus Christ).

I have always loved God. I try to let him guide my life and always ask him via prayer when I have a difficult discussion. I have, in the past, have had a hard time believing God loves ME. But I usually get over those Dark Nights of my Soul.

 

[In_Spiration]

Good answer. I think an important follow-up question would have to concern the best ways to know and love Christ, especially while living in our secular era 2,000 years after He walked the streets of Jerusalem. Any particular answers?

Obviously the Eucharist is our most direct mode of contact. In addition, I think it helps to imagine He’s sitting next to you as a man you’re talking to face-to-face, not just by a prayer to the darkness of your closed eyes. I find that sacred images and icons help direct my prayers, too. Try staring at the crucifix in contemplation as you walk down the aisle. Remind yourself how He was sweating blood from the terror of what He did for us. The fact that a perfect human, one in Being with the Father, would nonetheless be driven to cry out in prayer for some possible alternative is a scary thought. But the Father willed it, and so it was done.

Whenever I’m suffering from the miserable condition we’ve all put this world in, it helps to realize I’m not alone in bearing my little bit of the inevitable consequences; I feel His compassion. Then I wonder how much we all helped Him bear the cross together, and I can’t help but think that, despite all the righteous suffering countless good people have taken on throughout time, even that total amount couldn’t have measured up to that endured by one perfectly innocent man. That means that, at some point, He was all alone, not even humanly feeling the presence of the Father.

 

[Edward_H]

I don’t think love is a feeling. At least its essence is certainly not a feeling. The idea that love is a feeling is the root of many many many problems in our society.

The best example of love is the Cross: Pure self-donation, willing the eternal good of another (in Christ’s case, the good of each and every one of us).

Since God has no real needs, only desires, we can love God by working for the eternal good of others. We can help them come to know and love God themselves. Love is a decision, it’s a willingness to sacrifice, to self-donate for some one else, God, or His children. God desires perfect/total union with us and everyone else. Love is an act of the will and the intellect, not one of emotions.

So when we do ANYTHING…wake up, work, eat, talk with others, change a tire, sing, pray, go on vacation, run for office…we should make it our specific and strong intent to please God with what we do. “Lord I don’t want to displease you in any way, make this my prayer”.

 

[fhansen]

It’s a valid and honest question. And an important one since our faith teaches that we’re made just by our love for God as well as neighbor.

Faith, hope, and love are called theological virtues by the Church, meaning we can’t obtain or achieve them on our own -they are gifts. But they are gifts we can seek and aspire to, which He draws us to do. So as we seek God, we come to know Him more and the virtues grow. Like you said, it’s not easy to love someone we don’t know. These virtues were lost at the fall and they’re to be restored to us, as we’re willing, as we turn back to God.

The main way I’ve come to love God more is in response to love I’ve given to others in some manner. Then, kind of mysteriously, my love for Him grows-like an unexpected gift.

When we meet Him face to face, no longer separated from His immediate presence, we’ll know love-we’ll be dwarfed by love- on an unimaginable scale-and loving Him reciprocally will be unavoidable. Now we can pray that we’ll know more of that love here.

 

[StrawberryJam]

So many people, so many faiths say ‘I love God’. Yet what exactly does that mean?

To say ‘I fear God’ or *‘I hate God’ *is easily understood. We fear eternal punishment; we hate our present condition and blame ‘God’.

But to say ‘I love God’ seems to be a vacuous, even meaningless statement. I can love my children, my parents, my wife, my pets…even the flowers in my garden. But God? What is he? Who is he? Does anyone really love the Holy Ghost? How can you love a spirit?

How can we love a non-physical, unknowable, remote untouchable entity? Saying God is love, God is mercy, God is just, is simply giving human attributes to God. Can God be any of these things? These are human qualities.

All a believer can say is that God is but even that is questionable since He is but not in any knowable way. A rock is but will eventually erode, a planet is?..a star is?.. but they will all eventually cease to exist. So God does not exist in that sense. If He is beyond Time and Space then to humans he is unknowable.

So when people say ‘I love God’ do they simply mean Jesus Christ? That is easy. If some guy died for me or in my place then I would be always grateful, always honor him and never forget him.

‘You can come to the Father only thru’ me’ is so true in so many ways. Without Jesus we really have no concept of a loving Godhead and wouldn’t dare approach it. We would dimly grasp the wrathful OT version. But when Jesus referred to Him as ‘Our Father’ then the scales fell from our eyes. If you don’t love your father then who do you love? Whatever God is, he loves us, cares for us and wants us to be with him some day.

Gee, seems I have answered my own question… Any thoughts? Have you wrestle with this problem of loving God? ( not in the person of Jesus Christ).

Unfortunately, or fortunately there is no way to split the Trinity. I must be misunderstanding your question.

I can see problems with loving God. Assume I am a believer for a second.

Here is my God. You are my friend. God is my friend. God lets me know he is going to burn you in hell.
I have a choice to make. Without being graphic about what I would do, suffice it to say I would be joining you there.

 

[tafan]

I don’t think love is a feeling. At least its essence is certainly not a feeling. The idea that love is a feeling is the root of many many many problems in our society.

The best example of love is the Cross: Pure self-donation, willing the eternal good of another (in Christ’s case, the good of each and every one of us).

Since God has no real needs, only desires, we can love God by working for the eternal good of others. We can help them come to know and love God themselves. Love is a decision, it’s a willingness to sacrifice, to self-donate for some one else, God, or His children. God desires perfect/total union with us and everyone else. Love is an act of the will and the intellect, not one of emotions.

So when we do ANYTHING…wake up, work, eat, talk with others, change a tire, sing, pray, go on vacation, run for office…we should make it our specific and strong intent to please God with what we do. “Lord I don’t want to displease you in any way, make this my prayer”.

Excellent post!!! Read Mathew 25:31. The “least of my brothers” talk that Jesus gave. The idea of love being simply a feeling or emotion is wrong. We cannot always control all of our feelings. If love, in essence, was a feeling, then following Jesus command: “You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like to this: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” would not always be in our control. Jesus would not give us a commandment that we cannot always follow by will. It is easy to feel love of God when things go well, at other times, it is easy to be angry with God. But it is always possible to love God.

Pardon me for a a slight detour on the thread, but Edward’s statement about a bad understanding of love being the root of many problems in our society is correct. That is why the divorce rate is so high. The other basic concept in our lives, freedom, is also misunderstood, and this too causes many of our society’s problems. If we all had a better understanding of love and freedom, things would be much better.

 

[inocente]

So many people, so many faiths say ‘I love God’. Yet what exactly does that mean?

Does this help?

To be the image of God implies relationality. It is the dynamic that sets the human being in motion toward the totally Other. Hence it means the capacity for relationship; it is the human capacity for God. Human beings are, as a consequence, most profoundly human when they step out of themselves and become capable of addressing God on familiar terms. Indeed, to the question as to what distinguishes the human being from an animal, as to what is specifically different about human beings, the answer has to be that they are the beings that God made capable of thinking and praying. They are most profoundly themselves when they discover their relation to their Creator. Therefore the image of God also means that human persons are beings of word and of love, beings moving toward Another, oriented to giving themselves to the Other and only truly receiving themselves back in real self-giving. – Pope Benedict, In the Beginning… A Catholic Understanding of the Story of Creation and the Fall

 

[Rocinante]

So many people, so many faiths say ‘I love God’. Yet what exactly does that mean?

jesus told us exactly what it means to love god. he said that the second commandment is like (the same as) the first. in other words, we love god by taking care of one another. there is no other way since we can’t directly take care of god.

 

[nuntym]

+JMJ+

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=509047 and the rest.

God bless.

 

[donsnow]

Hi, Tobias,

First, what really jumped out at me, is you termed some of God’s greatest attributes (mercy, justice and Divine love) as human. Oh, tobias, we have gained those things from His holy supernature, they are not human, they are divine. We get them from Him.

Second, in one of the Gospels, Jesus asks Peter, three times, “Peter, do you love me?”
Each time, Peter says yes. Finally, Peter asks Jesus something and Jesus says, “Feed my sheep.”

I believe that when I read the scripture at Church, I feed his sheep. I believe that when I counsel people on these forums and stand up for Christ in the Philosophy forum against atheists and skeptics, I feed his sheep. I believe that when, as an Extraordinary Commissioned Eucharistic Minister I gave His body or blood, I fed his sheep. I believe that when I was the grill man in a greasy spoon restruant or bar, I fed his sheep. These are all ways to feed his sheep, to love him.

I also believe tafan has said the simple truth, that when we love one another then we love the Christ with whom we form a mystical body of faith, hope and love.

Keep praying and want to be with Him. Emulate Him, that’s a form of love.

I look forward to returning to Church and again serving Him, there. There’s a depth of meaning, to that “…serving Him…”. I serve him to my fellow Catholics in the spoken word and in the Eucharist. And, I serve Him by singing, praising Him, and serving in the Mass. I serve Him by offering my time and love to those around me. And, sometimes, I serve Him by asking others to help me, because surely I am among the least of His little ones.

I think that you could serve Him and love Him in many of these ways, too.

God loves you,
Don

 

[tobbias88]

Thanks for that Don.

Some wonderful advice, thoughts & opinions so far. But most are concentrating on Jesus Christ in the expression of their love for the Divine. I have no problem with that & find it easy to relate to the 2nd Person. For me, it’s the 1st that is unapproachable and the 3rd who remains exceedingly misty.

I am speaking of the ineffable, unknowable Godhead. How is it possible to have a relationship with Him? Perhaps that’s why so many Catholics take one step back and concentrate on Jesus the Man; two steps back to Mary and then three steps back to the Saints .(everyone having their favorite).

Perhaps I should admit that God is unknowable ( except thru Revelation) and leave it at that. I think that’s as far as Buddhists get in their meditations. I know the Muslims have 99 names for God but does that really help them? Are the Jews still stuck with their OT version?

Many have spoken of loving God by loving their neighbor but savages, humanists, good communists and sincere atheists love/serve their neighbor without doing it for the ‘love of God’. Not sure which is nobler. I have met missionaries who really don’t particularly like their flock but are ‘doing it for Jesus’. Saving souls seems to be like putting Savings in their Celestial Bank Account. Not sure that works. In the final analysis perhaps we need to be humble and admit that God the Father is way way beyond any of our human wildest imaginings, desires, longings and intellect.

 

[tonyrey]

You are my friend. God is my friend. God lets me know he is going to burn you in hell.
I have a choice to make. Without being graphic about what I would do, suffice it to say I would be joining you there.

You are assuming it is God not the person who decides…

 

[nuntym]

+JMJ+

Thanks for that Don.

Some wonderful advice, thoughts & opinions so far. But most are concentrating on Jesus Christ in the expression of their love for the Divine. I have no problem with that & find it easy to relate to the 2nd Person. For me, it’s the 1st that is unapproachable and the 3rd who remains exceedingly misty.

I am speaking of the ineffable, unknowable Godhead. How is it possible to have a relationship with Him? Perhaps that’s why so many Catholics take one step back and concentrate on Jesus the Man; two steps back to Mary and then three steps back to the Saints .(everyone having their favorite).

Hi tobbias88.

The Father and the Holy Spirit may seem mysterious, but actually the key to knowing them is Jesus Christ. The Gospel of John says,

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.** If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him and have seen him.**”

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied.”

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, `Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves.” John 14:6-11

If you really find it easy to relate to the Son, then you already have a relationship with the Godhead. Jesus is in the Father, and the Father is in Jesus. If you have a relationship with Jesus, then you automatically have a relationship with the Father.

And so it is with the Holy Spirit. Didn’t the New Testament say, “Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit” (1Cor.12:3), and "“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Rom 8:26)? You cannot pray sincerely without the Holy Spirit. Anytime you pray and foster a relationship with Jesus Christ, you automatically have a relationship with the Holy Spirit.

About the relationship with God through the saints, particularly with Mary. It is not that that is how Catholics want it to be; rather, we (yes I am included in this) have discerned this is how God wants our relationship to be. Oh how I wish it was more simple, that I can go to the Father without going through the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Mary, and Joseph! But it seems to me that the Father is more pleased if I do the “long way,” therefore let not my will be done but His.

Perhaps I should admit that God is unknowable ( except thru Revelation) and leave it at that. I think that’s as far as Buddhists get in their meditations. I know the Muslims have 99 names for God but does that really help them? Are the Jews still stuck with their OT version?

Many have spoken of loving God by loving their neighbor but savages, humanists, good communists and sincere atheists love/serve their neighbor without doing it for the ‘love of God’. Not sure which is nobler. I have met missionaries who really don’t particularly like their flock but are ‘doing it for Jesus’. Saving souls seems to be like putting Savings in their Celestial Bank Account. Not sure that works. In the final analysis perhaps we need to be humble and admit that God the Father is way way beyond any of our human wildest imaginings, desires, longings and intellect.

Of course we will always meet non-Christians who love more than the average Christian. God is a very loving God, and He lets His grace go to whoever He wants. However, I will always maintain that Catholics will ALWAYS have the potential to love more than any other on earth. Proof? Well, was there any of the “savages, humanists, good communists and sincere atheists” in history who was more loving than the saints of God?

God bless.

 

[Pieman333272]

If I may, can I ask a question that’s been troubling me recently involving this?

Does loving God feel like something, or is it just knowing he died for you and wanting to be in heaven with him?

 

[fhansen]

If I may, can I ask a question that’s been troubling me recently involving this?

Does loving God feel like something, or is it just knowing he died for you and wanting to be in heaven with him?

People minimize feelings sometimes but there would be no desire-no “wanting to be in heaven with Him”-without feelings playing their part. Do you lack feelings for people you love and want to be with? Didn’t Jesus weep for the lost? Wasn’t the Passion, beginning in the garden of agony, well, passionate? Isn’t God burdened for mankind?

Christianity is far from emotionless, like some stain-glassed saints or statues of Buddha with a detached look on his face. Isn’t there color and texture to virtues such as courage, fortitude, patience, nobility. integrity, etc, that identity then for us and that should draw us to them-isn’t that part of the motivating force behind them?

Love is virtually tactile when in Gods presence-as if it were living and could be cut with a knife. This “feeling/experiential knowledge” virtue is what gives worth to all things-and is worth living and dying for.

We can exploit and manipulate and abuse feelings like anything else but the idea that love is solely a matter of the will can be misleading, IMO.

 

[Rocinante]

If I may, can I ask a question that’s been troubling me recently involving this?

Does loving God feel like something, or is it just knowing he died for you and wanting to be in heaven with him?

since jesus equated the first great commandment with the second, i think it is fair to say that loving god feels exactly like loving your neighbor as yourself. i suspect that you already know what self-less love feels like.

 

[donsnow]

Thanks for that Don.

Some wonderful advice, thoughts & opinions so far. But most are concentrating on Jesus Christ in the expression of their love for the Divine. I have no problem with that & find it easy to relate to the 2nd Person. For me, it’s the 1st that is unapproachable and the 3rd who remains exceedingly misty.

I am speaking of the ineffable, unknowable Godhead. How is it possible to have a relationship with Him? Perhaps that’s why so many Catholics take one step back and concentrate on Jesus the Man; two steps back to Mary and then three steps back to the Saints .(everyone having their favorite).

Perhaps I should admit that God is unknowable ( except thru Revelation) and leave it at that. I think that’s as far as Buddhists get in their meditations. I know the Muslims have 99 names for God but does that really help them? Are the Jews still stuck with their OT version?

Many have spoken of loving God by loving their neighbor but savages, humanists, good communists and sincere atheists love/serve their neighbor without doing it for the ‘love of God’. Not sure which is nobler. I have met missionaries who really don’t particularly like their flock but are ‘doing it for Jesus’. Saving souls seems to be like putting Savings in their Celestial Bank Account. Not sure that works. In the final analysis perhaps we need to be humble and admit that God the Father is way way beyond any of our human wildest imaginings, desires, longings and intellect.

Well, tobias,

I think that when we take time to worship Jesus Christ, to praise Jesus Christ and time to thank Jesus Christ, that we are in touch with the other two persons of the Holy Trinity. Because, Jesus Christ is given to us by the Heavenly Father as our intermediary, as our Savior and as our Shepherd. I think that through Him we have access to God the Father and to God the Holy Spirit.
I venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary, too, with the Hail Mary.
Then, there’s my patron saint and my guardian angel…each of us are safe in different members of the Hosts of Heaven. The thing to avoid is wandering off from such fine spiritual company by thoughts and actions.

God loves you,
Don