Many people say they love the Lord, but how do we show our love? Love is not a passive word, it is an action word. Our love is shown by our actions. Think about it: how do we show our love for our spouse or our children? We show it by our actions, not just our words. We try to please them, we do things for them, we make them a priority, don't we? Merely saying "I love you" doesn't mean much if it's not expressed by action. Our actions prove the truth of our words.

Demonstrating our love is not just a one-time thing.: we can't do something once and expect it to last. Love is a day-to-day committment. It doesn't come and go. Anything that is for the moment only is not really love. Love is not always a mountain-top experience, either. There are always peaks and valleys, but love stands fast through them all.

The same is true with our relationship with God. Our actions, day in and day out, prove our love for Him. Merely saying we love the Lord is one thing, but the proof is in what we actually do, not what we say. It is a day-to-day committment, expressed by our actions. Loving God is not just the mountain-top feeling we have when we first experience His gift of salvation; it isn't just a momentary emotion. Just as our love for our family is shown by our actions, so is our love for the Lord. Loving the Lord is walking with Him through the ups and downs of daily life, day in and day out, doing what makes Him happy, and making Him our priority.

In light of this, how do we demonstrate our love for God by our actions? What should we be doing on a daily basis to show that our love is more than just empty words? As always, God's own Word, the Holy Bible, has all the answers we need. We show our love for the Lord when we:

1. Love Others. Jesus taught us that loving God is the most important thing we can do, and that loving God must include loving others who are also made in His image. Loving others includes not just our family and friends, it means extending love even to our enemies! Jesus made all this perfectly clear when He said these things:

   Jesus said unto him, You shall love the Lord your God
   with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all
   your mind. This is the first and great commandment.
   And the second is like unto it, You shall love your
   neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments
   hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40)
   
   A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one
   another; as I have loved you, that you also love one
   another. By this shall all men know that you are my
   disciples, if ye have love one to another. (John 13:34-35)
   
   But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies,
   do good to them which hate you, Bless them that
   curse you, and pray for them which despitefully
   use you. For if you love only them which love you,
   what good is that? For even sinners also love those
   that love them. (Luke 6:27-28, 32)

2. Read the Bible. The Holy Bible contains all we ever need to know, about God, His will, and His ways. How can we possibly even know what pleases God, unless we read His word daily? How can we expect to know what God would have us do, unless we immerse ourselves in the Scriptures? A cursory glance through the pages of the Bible won't reveal much. I always say Bible study is like a bank account: If you don't put much into it, you won't get much out of it. It is only by throroughly studying the Holy Bible that we learn the heart of God and His will for our lives.

   Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a
   workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
   rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Tim. 2:15)
   
   Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a
   light unto my path. (Psalms 119:105)
   
   Sanctify them through Thy truth:
   Thy word is truth. John 17:17
   
   

3. Obey God's commandments. Or, as James put it, don't just hear the truth, but put it into action! Merely knowing what the Bible says is useless unless we apply it in our daily lifes. Every single day, not just when it is easy and convenient.

   But be you doers of the word, and not hearers
   only, deceiving your own selves. (James 1:22)
   
   If you love me, keep my commandments. (John 14:15)
   
   He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them,
   he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be l
   oved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest
   myself to him. (John 14:21)
   
   If you keep my commandments, you shall abide
   in my love; even as I have kept my Father's
   commandments, and abide in his love. (John 15:10)
   
   And by this we know that we know Him, if we
   keep His commandments. He that says, I know
   Him, and keeps not His commandments, is a
   liar, and the truth is not in him. (1 John 2:3-4)
   
   Blessed are they that do his commandments, that
   they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter
   in through the gates into the city. (Revelation 22:14)

4. Pray without ceasing. Reading the Bible is allowing God to speak to us; prayer is us speaking to God. Any conversation has to be a two way street, one person cannot do all the talking. We are to pray always, about everything, with a clean and thankful heart. And we have to understand that praying isn't about getting God to do what we want, it is about sharing our concerns and needs with Him and then seeking what He wants!

   Pray without ceasing. (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
   
   The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous
   man availeth much. (James 5:16b)
   
   The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination
   to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is
   His delight. (Proverbs 15:8)
   
   The LORD is far from the wicked: but He heareth
   the prayer of the righteous. (Proverbs 15:29)
   
   Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by
   prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
   let your requests be made known unto God.
   (Philippians 4:6)

5. Teach Others. Teaching others what God has taught us is imperative if we want to show our love for the Lord. We are to begin with those closest to us, and those we have the greatest influence on, our families. From there we spread out to our churches, our communities, and the rest of the world. The importance God gives to teaching others is seen in the fact that it was one of the things God spoke through Moses when He gave the Ten Commandments, as well as the last thing Jesus instructed before He left this earth to return to His Father.

   And these words, which I command thee this day,
   shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them
   diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them
   when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou
   walkest by the way, and when thou liest down,
   and when thou risest up. (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)
   
   Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing
   them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
   and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe
   all things whatsoever I have commanded you:
   and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end
   of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:19-20)

6. Give Generously. It is a fact that God does not bless us with anything, be it money, time, or talent, for our own sake only. Every thing we have is given to us to bless others as well. It is also a fact that when we bless others with our time, talents, or material blessings, God blesses us even more in turn. We cannot out-give God! In fact, this area of giving is the only thing God ever actually told His people to test Him about - and He promised to give back even more abundantly! So giving generously, and with a happy heart, is one more way we demonstrate our love for the Lord.

   Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse,
   that there may be meat in my house, and
   prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of
   hosts, if I will not open you the windows of
   heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that
   there shall not be room enough to receive it.
   (Malachi 3:10)
   
   But this I say, He which sows sparingly
   shall also reap sparingly; and he which
   sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully.
   Every man according as he purposes in
   his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or
   of necessity: for God loves a cheerful giver.
   And God is able to make all grace abound
   toward you; that you, always having all
   sufficiency in all things, may abound to
   every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:6-8)
   
   Give, and it shall be given unto you; good
   measure, pressed down, shaken together,
   and running over, shall men give into your
   bosom. For with the same measure that
   you measure out, it shall be measured
   to you again. (Luke 6:38)

7. Serve Others. Jesus set for us the perfect example of servanthood. Even being the Son Of God, He demonstrated His love for His Father, by humbling Himself to serve others. If we truly want to demonstrate ou love for the Lord, we must follow His example of humility and service to others.

   And whosoever will be chief among you, let him
   be your servant: Even as the Son of man came
   not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to
   give His life a ransom for many. (Matt. 20:27-28)
   
   And He sat down, and called the twelve, and said
   unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same
   shall be last of all, and servant of all. (Mark 9:35)
   
   Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
   Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to
   be equal with God: But made Himself of no reputation,
   and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made
   in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a
   man, He humbled himself, and became obedient unto
   death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:5-8)