Dear Church,

Recently, I have been focusing on something that churches seem to have lost focus on, which is the very important idea to...

Love God first. 

In Matthew 22:37-39, it states Jesus saying, "Love the LORD your God with all of your heart and with all of your souls and with all of your mind.'  THIS is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself."

Notice that it says that we're supposed to love GOD first, not our neighbors (first).  From what I've seen in churches these days is that we have focused a little too much on how to love others, that we've lost sight on loving God, and more importantly loving Him first!

By trying to love others first, without first loving God, we're trying to exert energy without a battery pack.  If we love God first, it becomes natural and sometimes easy for us to love others.

Now, how do you love God first?  Good question!  I thought through all I have been taught throughout my many years in the church, and I realized that I really have only been taught how to love others.  Then, I remembered the love languages.

The love languages were made known through "The Five Love Languages" book by Gary Chapman to help in the aid of spouses in a relationship.  With God being a God of relationships, I decided to think through how I could love God through all 5 love languages.

First, there's "quality time."  I sometimes spend time with God, but is it quality time?  How exactly do I spend quality time with God?  Well, how do you spend quality time with a loved one?  Really, quality time is being engaged in another's presence.  It's noticing them, talking to them, listening to them.  Just spending time with them.  So how can you give God quality time?  Take time to rid yourself of distractions and just sit engagingly with Him in His presence.

The next love language is "words of affirmation."  Speaking words of affirmation ( or what I like to call 'words of adoration') to a person enforces to both them and you what you believe to be true.  Words of affirmation to God could include, "LORD, you are good." "God, you are Creator of all." "Father, you are mighty, powerful, and faithful."  Affirm what you know to God.  For a bonus: speak words of adoration to God.  This is included in the A.C.T.S. prayer model.  Adore God, and tell Him how unbelievable and indescribable He is to you.

Another love language is "acts of service."  This is a language many Christians are already familiar with and do well.  Loving God through acts of service could look like serving God in church roles, volunteering at local ministries, serving the less fortunate, or even sacrificing selfish desires through fasting.  The tricky part is to remember that this is not the only love language to God.  Also, the verse is not "SERVE the Lord, your God, with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind," but to "LOVE the Lord, your God, with all of your heart with all of your soul and with all of your mind."  God loves you for YOU, not because of the things you do.

Our next love language was a tricky one for me to understand how to love God through.  It is "physical touch."  When thinking of how to love God first through physical touch, 2 things came to mind: First, was to use physical touch to show love to others.  A hand on someones shoulder, a hug when someone is hurting, holding someone's hand while you pray with them about what's going on in their lives.  Physical touch must always stay appropriate though which brings me to my second thought.  Abstinence.  For those of us not married, we can love God through choosing not to physically touch others in ways that God has set aside for only married couples.  You can seriously LOVE God through that which also falls in line with acts of service.

Our last love language is "gift giving."  In church, we are taught to tithe and give our offering, but this type of gift giving is not only about our money, but also about giving back the gifts and talents we've been given to the One who created them in the first place.  If you don't know what your gift/talent is, there are websites to help aid you in the process of figuring it out.  But, don't stop there.  Just because you know your gift or talent doesn't mean you're giving back to God.  You must use your gift/talent for God's glory (not your own) for it to be a gift back to Him.

So, there you have it.  This is what I have been focusing on lately, and I hope it helps you in understanding why exactly we are called to pray, go to church, read our Bibles, etc.  It is all to LOVE GOD FIRST, the first and greatest commandment.