Command 39: Love the Lord
Study Question
Q: Paul instructed unmarried Christians to please the Lord and married Christians to please their spouses. How, then, can a married couple love the Lord with all their hearts and love each other at the same time? (See I Corinthians 7.)
A: Loving God with all our hearts means that we respond to His grace by devoting all our affections, thoughts, wills, and strength to Him and to those things that delight His heart. It means that on a daily basis we must present our bodies as living sacrifices and yield our members to Him to do those things that are pleasing in His sight. (See Romans 12:1.)
Our love for God is expressed by our obedience to Him. Since He is the One Who tells husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the Church and tells wives to respect and honor their husbands, those who do this are effectively loving God by loving their spouses. (See Ephesians 5:22–29.)
When we love God with all our hearts, we do not need to divide our love between God and others; instead, God uses us to demonstrate His love to others. Therefore, if a married couple wants to truly love each other, they must first love the Lord with all their hearts.
This study question and answer is adapted from the Commands of Christ, Series 6, book. For further study, this book may be purchased from our Online Store.