• Remember His benefits
• Turn the joy into love
If someone has done us something good, delivered us from a certain trouble, or supported us in a certain situation, we will certainly love him; how much rather if we remember all the benefits God has given us! Such things will fill our hearts with love for God.
David experienced this matter, so he said,
“Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.”
And David mentioned the details of those benefits:
“Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your mouth is renewed like the eagle’s.” (Ps 103: 1-5) He further says, “He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him.”
Sit then to yourself and remember all God’s benefits to you since your birth.
Remember how He concealed your sins, which if people knew they would not even greet you, receive you in their houses, visit you, or have any dealing with you. He not only conceals your sins, but He also forgives them, makes people love you, and moreover praise you and seek your prayers!! He calls you His son and permits you to address Him in prayer, saying “Our Father in heaven”! Indeed, God deserves all your love!
Remember also how many hardships He delivered you from.
Remember the diseases He saved you from, and the diseases which He prevented from you. Remember the hardships and the troubles He delivered you from, and the wicked people and their plots from which He saved you. When you remember all this prostrate yourself before Him, and five thanks to Him, saying: O Lord, I do not deserve all the help You gave me, nor all the love You offered me! Would that I love You as You have loved me!
Remember God’s gifts and talents to you.
Remember the intellect, the wisdom, the intelligence He endowed you with, the beautiful countenance or voice, the artistic talents, the beautiful handwriting, the spiritual gifts or abilities for the ministry, the favor He gave you in the sight of the others and in their hearts; then say to Him, “How I love You, O Lord, for all these gifts of Your grace! How ought I to love You!
You ought to love Him likewise for His benefits to your beloved ones, relatives, friends, or colleagues.
You ought to love Him for His benefits to the church and to our country. Is it not strange that in disasters we remember those who suffered and we feet annoyed and sad, but at the same time we do not remember our beloved ones who were saved by the Lord through means that are almost miraculous?!
Suffice that we are still alive up to this hour!
It is God’s love that kept us till now, for which we should give thanks to Him and love Him Remember all the epidemics and diseases that attacked the world, and how we were saved and are still alive! When the country was threatened by dryness, the Lord sent down rain and saved us. He still gives us the chance to work for our eternal life.
You should love God, because He did not take you away from the world while you are in advertent or in sin!!
Otherwise you would perish in the present world and in the world to come. You would have died without repentance as happened to Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5), to King Herod (Acts 12), and to others similarly. God saw you in your sin but He was longsuffering so that His forbearance and longsuffering may lead you to repentance (Rom 2: 4). Say to Him then, “I love You, O Lord, for Your longsuffering, forbearance, and benefits in spite of all my wrongdoings. Truly You deserve all this love, for many people who are dust and ashes like myself could not bear with me even one simple fault. But You are compassionate and loving.
If you want your heart to be filled with God’s love, do not ascribe His benefits to another, nor to yourself.
So many times God made you successful, but you ascribed the success to your own intelligence and abilities and forgot that it was God who helped you. You lose by this a motive to love Him. So many times God sent you someone to save you, but you ascribed it to that person, or you needed a serious surgery and when a famous surgeon did it you ascribed the success of the surgery to his genius rather than to God who is the true healer, who gave that surgeon the genius.
It is indeed strange that we ascribe the good we receive to others, while we ascribe to God our problems and hardships!
How then could we love God while we ascribe to Him every calamity we undergo, blame Him, threaten to keep away from Him, and complain to everybody against God’s “cruelty” and “neglect”! We say to Him: Why, O Lord, do You do that to us? Where is Your mercy which we hear about?!
The fact is that our troubles may be due to the wicked people, to our own negligence or faults, but we ascribe them to God! We thus keep ourselves far from His love.
So, whatever blessing you receive, ascribe to God; and whatever trouble ascribes to its real causes. God is the source of every good thing; nothing evil comes from God. This will help you attain God’s love. However God never changes. Although we ascribe His benefits to others He continues to give us good things as if we have never forgotten His benefits or been ungrateful to Him!
This alone can be a motive for us to love Him.
There is also a fact which it is not in our favor to forget:
Whoever forgets God’s benefits will have a hard ungrateful heart, like Pharaoh whose heart hardened because he forgot that God responded to him and removed away the plagues many times and like Delilah whose heart hardened and was disloyal to Samson and delivered him to the hands of his enemies because she forget his great love to her (Judg 16) Solomon also forgot all God’s benefits and gifts to him, and loved his wives more than he loved God, and his heart was not perfect before God (1 Kgs 11).
On the contrary the sinful repenting woman loved God much because she remembered how He forgave much to her.
“To whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” (Lk 7: 47) The Lord meant by these words the person who thinks that little is forgiven him, so he loves little. Do not be like that; rather remember all your sins and how God in His loving kindness forgave much for you. Then you will love Him much.
No doubt God had done much to you but you forget. Therefore David reminded himself of His benefits (Ps 103: 2)
You forget because you are occupied with asking for other benefits, forgetting the past ones. Your life is all requests rather than thanks giving. The life of thank giving is connected with love, so lead such a life that your heart may be filled with God’s love. Actually your whole life will not be sufficient to give God thanks for Hs care throughout your life since your birth.
God’s benefits even preceded your birth!
You may have not come to the world for any reason, or you may have inherited some diseases or defects, but God protected you. Shall you forget all this?! Remember that and your love to Him will increase.
Remember How God kept you in your childhood.
As the Psalmist says: God preserves children. Any neglect in feeding, treating, or guarding a child may cause him harm. The same applies in case of neglecting his upbringing, education, or implanting harmful things in his subconscious. Thanks God then that He made your childhood pass in peace. Say to Him: I love You, O Lord, from all my heart, because You protected me in my childhood and brought me to this hour and let me read about Your love.
Here I would say that many people may respond to God’s benefits with joy and happiness, without make that a motive to love Him! They rejoice at the good they receive from God, at His response to their prayers, at His gifts and talents, at His salvation, but they do not go farther to say a few words of thanksgiving and gratitude!
Spirituals, on the other hand, transfer their gratitude into love. They see His benefits as an evidence of His love to them, so they exchange love with Him.
The matter is not mere joy and thanksgiving, but it should extend deep to establish a love relationship between you and God. Remember always that His benefits are due to His love to you; His fatherhood to you; His care for you. As a loving son exchange with Him love for love.