Lesson 3, Why Bible Study? To Love God

Studying the Bible Teaches Us How to Love God. As the congregation sang Just As I Am, I moved toward the front to pray. The heavens didn't open, but I knew that something inside of me had changed. My love for God began that day. It would grow rapidly in time as I learned to love Him sacrificially. 

Love requires sacrifice. God demonstrated His love for us through the sacrifice of His Son (John 3:16). We express mutual love for Him each time we put sin out of our life. John declared that those who love God obey His commandments.  "This is love for God to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome" (1 John 5:3).

In the same way husbands freely choose to love their wives, Christians freely choose to love God. Men may joke before a wedding about the "old ball and chain" but they know that a healthy marriage requires hard work on their part and likewise for the ladies. Spouses demonstrate their love for one another when they live inside biblical boundaries. True love costs us much effort but pays rich dividends.

When we strive to obey God's precepts in the sacred text, we demonstrate our love for Him. Jesus didn't mean that we should beat ourselves over the head with a book of rules. That's not the nature of relationships nor should it be our mindset when we approach the Scriptures. We do, however, need to study the Bible to better understand its general guidelines for expressing sacrificial love.

The Scriptures teach us how to love God. Christians in a vibrant relationship with God would never use "ball and chain" language to describe their willing surrender to the Scriptures. We should eagerly study the Bible, so that our relationship with the Living God flourishes as we learn how to love our Father with all our heart, mind, and soul.