Loving God again

God makes it clear that we love Him only because He first loved us. Some love Him more than others because they know they have been forgiven much. They were slaves of sin, made free from a debt they could not pay and now they willingly pour out their lives for the One who made atonement for them. We love God and continue to grow in love for Him because He rescues us when we call upon Him. We want to know the One who cares for us, who works deliverance, and who provides for us, so we pursue Him and are overwhelmed with gratitude. Because God will continue to be Who He is, as life unfolds we will always have opportunities to know Him and love Him increasingly. But far too often we grow satisfied, comfortable, and then forget Him. Loving God is an act of our will which will engage our affections and emotions as love grows. Loving God, as we should, requires our conscious attention and will produce wholehearted obedience - proof that we love Him.

It is possible to be caught up in acceptable service for His sake and cool from loving Him as we should, and as we did. God holds this against us and requires us to repent. He wants our first love. In returning to that place we must make the intentional choices that will nurture our love and affection for Him again: time, priority, attention, communication, obedience, thanksgiving. 

To love God with all our heart we must first of all will to do so. We should repent our lack of love and determine from this moment on to make God the object of our devotion. We shall soon find to our great delight that our feelings are beginning to move in the direction of the "willed tendency of the heart." Our emotions will become disciplined and directed. We shall begin to taste the "piercing sweetness" of the love of Christ. The whole life, like a delicate instrument, will be tuned to sing the praises of Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. But first of all we must will, for the will is master of the heart.
~ A. W. Tozer, Man: The Dwelling Place of God

[For recent related posts, check out From where you have fallen, The right way to love and God's broken heart]