And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
Mark 12:30
Loving God is the greatest and most important aspect of our relationship with Him.
It is the greatest calling and commandment for Christians. This command sets the foundation for the Christian life; our choices, how we live and interact with people and the world.
But what does it truly mean to love God and how can we deepen this love in our everyday lives?
Camp Chieflings is dedicated to raising steward leaders for the new age. The area of self-leadership for this article is the Heart; not the biological one per se but of a spiritual nature. We will help you fully understand and take practical steps towards loving God.
What Does It Mean to Love God?

Loving God entails a lot of things which we will unpack over the the course of this article. As a foundation, It means having a deep and personal relationship with God that shapes our thoughts, actions, and priorities.
I remember sitting in quiet reflection, a voice stirring deep within me. It was a call I had felt before, during my darkest days, and now again after finding salvation. Yet this time, the summons was even more insistent, impossible to ignore.
Love Me. Love Jesus.
When I chose to cave into the gravity of this experience, my heart changed. Desires became Godward and my mind contemplative;
What does loving God even mean? What does it look like in a practical sense? How do I do it?
Whatever lay ahead, I knew I had to thread the path where that voice was leading. Fast forward to today, I am living a dream.
Loving God means taking time to connect with Him through prayer, reading the scripture and meditating on the word of God. It is a journey marked by reverence, gratitude, and total obedience to His will.
In John 14:15, Jesus said, “if you love me, keep my commandments”. Loving God means obedience to His commandments which involves aligning your life with His teachings and principles.
As a believer, loving God means believing in Him and trusting His plans, even when life is challenging or His ways are hard to understand. Practically, your love for God should influence your beliefs, decisions, values, and lifestyle.
How to Love God: Deepen Your Love for God.

Loving God more is about deepening your relationship with Him and aligning your life with His will.
This involves more than just an emotional response, as the love for God becomes an active, guiding force that changes and shapes you.
As a new convert, in my room, I wondered and asked
‘how do I love God?’
All I could think of was Jesus and the immense love he showed me by saving me. I never wanted anything more. I have eternal life now!
Unbeknownst to me, there was a great stirring within me; a compelling desire to positively respond to this love.
Here are 7 steps to follow if you want to love God more than anything (based on scriptures and the corroborative lessons from my experience).

Step 0: Acknowledge the Reality of God’s love
God loves you.
It is true and you can do nothing to change this reality. This is step zero (0) because you don’t have to do anything in this step. Whether you accept or not, it makes no difference. God still loves you and all of mankind regardless.
Don’t believe it?
Well, don’t take my word for it. Here are 17 Bible Verses About God’s Love That Would Melt Your Heart. We go deep into the love God has for us and the very nature of the Agape; God’s kind of love.
He has already proven it. God set an unbreakable record by sending his only begotten son to die for you and me. In the provision of salvation through Jesus, he outdid himself in his show of love towards us. It is done. What more can we say? Who or what can separate us from the Love of God?
> “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” .
Romans 8:38-39
Step 1: Embrace God’s love.
Here’s the thing – knowing about God’s love and actually embracing it are two completely different experiences.
If you would ever experience the impact of his love and the fruits thereof (eg salvation), you have to do more than acknowledging the reality of His love. You have to embrace it.
Embracing God’s love is among the first things to do as a response of love towards God.
Step 2: See God clearly
As we go through life, our brains develop biases and paradigms from which we see and understand reality. But sometimes these mental models can distort our view of God.
If we are to love God not merely as a fleeting emotion but as a lifestyle, we must be able to see him clearly. To do so, we are expected to commit to personal change, changing our mental models to reflect the realities of God.
This step entails diligently working on our perceiving organs and faculties, removing mental barriers, causing mental shifts, and examining, confronting, and addressing our paradigms about God.
Sometimes it even means distancing ourselves from influences that cloud our vision – whether they’re cultural trends, associations, or popular ideologies that don’t align with God’s truth.
The Bible is the objective resource for measuring the truth about God. It is the best trainer of our perceiving faculties for divine functions.
With its accurate interpretation comes a perspective and a lens that is a perfect representation of what truly is. A clear lens to the end that we might have eyes that see, ears that hear, a heart that responds, and a spirit that understands.
Step 3: Know Your Lover.
Your mission at this stage, should you choose to accept, is to focus on God and take in more of him.
The more I know you. The more I want to love you. Jesus more of you.
Above is a snippet from the lyrics of Sinach’s song titled More. Listen on Spotifiy. It presents a simple yet powerful secret to deepening your love for God;
Do you want to love God more? Then know him more!!! It sounds like a no-brainer, Right? Not for most people. It wasn’t for me either.
You know that feeling when you’re so interested in someone that you can spend hours scrolling through their social media? Well, if we can do that for a crush or potential partner, surely we can dedicate at least 30 minutes daily to knowing God through His Word.
It sounds simple, right? But I’ll be honest – there was a time when I found reading the Bible laborious and demotivating. No wonder my love for God was barely scratching the surface!
Get interested in God. Know his priorities; his character; and his disposition towards you.
As you look intently at him, from the right frame of reference and state of mind, you begin to discover how fascinating Yahweh is. Then something beautiful happens. — admiration begins to grow.
Step 4: Choose to Love.
While those initial feelings of admiration are wonderful, God desires something deeper – He wants our commitment.
It’s like that moment in a relationship when it’s time to move from casual dating to something more serious. One party initiates the request while the other will have to choose to accept or decline.
I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. – Revelations 3:20
This is where you size up and do the heart work. At this stage, you commit to a thriving relationship with him as Lord, King, Savior, and God. Mind you these carry serious implications. It means he can influence you, and change you fundamentally. It means you have obligations unto him likewise he unto you. It is a covenant bound by love.
But if you’ve truly experienced His love and gotten to know His heart, you’ll find yourself knowing deep down that He’s worth every bit of surrender.
Step 5: Love in Action
Here’s what I’ve discovered: Biblical love isn’t passive – it’s a powerful force that breaks through inertia. When God’s love truly fills your heart, it demands expression which usually takes the form of personal devotional practices. Here are devotional practices that cultivate love:
- Going on “prayer dates” with Him.
- Choosing obedience, even when it’s tough.
- Submitting our will to His.
- Worshiping from a place of genuine reverence and love
- Trusting His timing and ways, which means also accepting His discipline.
- Serving others as an overflow of His love.
- Reading the Bible. It helps you understand God’s character, promises, and love for us, meditating on His word allows it to transform our hearts and minds.
- Worship. It really helped me to grow my love for God as it was a way of connecting and deepening my relationship with Him. I worshipped through singing, thanksgiving, and praise as a way to express my love and gratitude to God.
- Fellowship. Koinonia; communing with the saints. We love God by loving others
Step 6: Walk in the Spirit
One of the most profound realizations I have made is that we can’t fully love God through human efforts only. We can try, but there is a dimension of loving God that is spirit-operated and sustained.
At this stage, one is completely given to the transformation and influence of love such that Love now inhabits the person like a spirit.
That by the Spirit, you wouldn’t need situations to provoke love. We wouldn’t need to be roused by suspense music or remind ourselves to Love God every morning. It would be an active force flowing naturally in us.
Feeling barren or dry? Then stir up living waters on your inside. Plug into the spirit.
Walking with the Holy Spirit helped me know how to love God more than anything and I realized that means placing Him at the center of my life, valuing Him above all else, and seeking to align my heart, mind, and actions with His will.
Step 7: Be Ready To Give It All Up And Give It Your All.

I will be completely honest. This is the part I still struggle with sometimes. There is always that temptation to keep one hand on the steering wheel of life; to hold back just one thing we love too much to let go.
But I get it now. True worship is not complete until it is entire. I have to leave it all on the altar. Take ancient Israel’s tradition of offering and sacrifice for instance; You don’t bring a sacrifice and expect to take some back home.
God doesn’t forbid us from having good things In fact, he put most of them in our hands to steward. He is however checking our hearts and guarding it for us. Because when we cling to these things, we risk missing out on the greater treasure of knowing Him fully.
The truth is that loving God is far from easy, not that he is a difficult person. No, we know what Jesus says about himself in Matthew 11:28-30,
I am gentle. My burden is light.
But we are running an important race in a fallen world. The stakes are high and thus the demands are higher. But here’s the beautiful part: we’re not doing it alone. God didn’t just give us commands from afar; He put on flesh, walked among us, dealt with our sin problem, and gave us His Spirit to help us along the way. He held nothing back.
Mark 12:30, a scripture about loving God, essentially instructs us to love God with everything. Loving God is a whole being phenomenon involving emotional regulation, intellectual pursuit, spiritual alignment, and our physical capacities.
FAQs on Loving God: Understanding Your Love for God.
Understanding your love for God is a journey of reflection, relationship, and revelation. It involves recognizing how much God loves you and allowing that love to inspire and shape your response to Him.
The foundation of your love for God is rooted in His love for you. Just as love in any relationship grows with time and communication, so does your love for God. Spend intentional time in prayer, worship, and studying His Word.
Do I Really Love God?
The true test of our love for God has to be carried out in the heart. Take a journey of introspection into your heart and probe it for answers using self-reflection questions about loving God.
While, we humans, can objectively observe your lifestyle and conclude whether your love God or not. It is not an infallible method of deduction because there is always the possibility of Pretence (that is maintaining the outward appearance and keeping up the looks)
So what this question does is that it would lead you on a journey into your heart which God sees as it truly is. It is a journey only you can take.
However, we can help by providing prompts in the form of questions to guide your journey to the right destination.
How Do I Know If I Love God Enough?

A sign of love for God is the desire to spend time with Him through prayer, worship, and reading His Word. Even when life gets busy, prioritizing your relationship with Him shows that He holds an important place in your heart.
It’s natural and completely normal to wonder if you love God enough, but the truth is, our love for God is a journey rather than a fixed destination.
No human love for God will ever be perfect, but He looks at the posture of your heart rather than perfection.
God doesn’t measure your love for Him by external actions alone. He sees your heart, your intentions, and your genuine desire to know and love Him. Even if you feel like you fall short, God honors a sincere heart.
Additionally, when you Love someone, you want to make them happy. Loving God involves seeking to glorify Him in everything you do and living a life that reflects His goodness. Everything we do, should be for God’s glory (1 Corinthians 10:31).
Does God Know I Love Him?
Yes, God knows that you love Him. He sees your heart, your intentions, and your deepest desires—even when you feel unsure or inadequate in expressing your love. God’s understanding of you goes far beyond what you can articulate, and He knows the sincerity of your love, even in moments of doubt or struggle.
God is all-knowing and searched the depths of your heart. He doesn’t just look at outward actions, He understands your thoughts, emotions, and desires. God recognizes your attempts to love Him, obey His commands, and seek His presence. He understands that you’re a human and imperfect and He treasures your efforts.
God’s love for you doesn’t depend on how perfectly you love Him in return. He knows your struggles and imperfections but still loves you fully. Romans 8:38-39 depicts this.
In Romans 8:16, “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” When you love God, His Spirit within you testifies to that relationship. If you feel drawn to God, it’s because His spirit is working in your heart.
How Do I Love God With All My Heart?

Loving God with all your heart means giving Him your complete devotion, affection, and trust.
Start by examining your heart for competing affections, surrendering your anxieties and desires, and choosing to trust Him above all else.
From Proverbs 4:23, we can tell that matters of the heart are crucial and everything about life flows from it. Thus, Giving your heart to God is very crucial and one of the best things we can do.
Conclusion
Loving God is the foundation of every Christian journey. It is the noblest call a person can commit to. Embrace His love towards you, get to know Him better, and partner with the Holy Spirit for perpetual expression.
If you’re unsure whether you truly love God, bring your doubts and concerns to Him in prayer. Ask Him to help you grow in love and give you a heart that seeks Him fully.
Remember, love for God isn’t about being perfect—it’s about a heart that genuinely desires Him. If you’re seeking Him, striving to obey, and wanting to grow in faith, you already show signs of love for Him. Trust that He will help you deepen that love over time.
Even if you feel like you’re not doing enough, don’t be discouraged. God knows the love you carry for Him in your heart. He sees and values every prayer, every act of kindness, and every step of faith you take.
It further encourages us to make more great content that helps you steward the life you in have in Christ.