Day 282, Year 1

Hypocrites Cannot Really Love God!

“But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.” (Luke 11:42 NASB)

“If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. O Lord, come!” (1 Corinthians 16:22 NKJV)

Related to the first verse of today is “mercy and faithfulness,” which in the Gospel of Luke is changed to “the love of God.” Indeed, believers’ mercy and faith hold little significance if they do not stem from a heart that loves God. In today’s second verse, Paul even wrote that believers who did not love the Lord were cursed. This especially refers to those who are capable of loving God and have experienced His love, yet choose not to love Him. Such people deserve to be divinely cursed.

Those who know God but do not love Him may, on one hand, be unable to continue to receive His love, and on the other hand, they are likely to take advantage of God, thereby bringing curses upon themselves. In the past, the Pharisees, etc., valued the law’s rules so much that they failed to see God’s love for His people behind those rules. They recognized the law’s importance as a means of salvation but were unable to know the will of God behind it. They took the meaning out of the context to maximize their selfish gain. So, they are abusing God. Similarly, some people overly emphasize God as loving so that they gain a justification for indulging in their lusts. These irresponsible people love enjoying self-interests and refuse to pay the price to love God. After all, knowing God but not loving Him results in being cursed.

To sum up, people who believe in the Lord usually love Him. The reason is simple. No one believes in a bad belief; conversely, a good belief will naturally attract believers. The core of the biblical faith is that the true God is full of justice, love, mercy, and faithfulness. People believe in what they perceive as good, and those who recognize God as good will naturally love Him. 

In contrast, those who claim to follow God but do not love Him, if not because of the ignorance of newly believing in faith, are likely to grapple with problems such as deception and self-contradiction. This contradiction may include following rationally while failing to keep up emotionally. Of course, this might be due to the segregation of one’s reason and emotions. If we have not addressed our internal contradictions or segregation before coming to faith, we will find it very difficult to love God. Additionally, some have rarely experienced love throughout their lives and thus find it difficult to love God. These people need to seek the Lord’s healing, deliverance, and renewal to experience His immense love.

Reflection questions:

1) Do you find it difficult to love the Lord Jesus? If so, what might be the reason behind it?

2) Do you need to pray for God’s healing, deliverance, and renewal to come upon you so as to love Him more? If you do, what are you going to do?