Love the Lord’s Salvation

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident. One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the [b]beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple. For in the time of trouble, He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock. Psalm 27:1-5

Do you love them more than Me?

God calls us to love others, but first He calls us to love Him. The world understands loving others because they have benefitted from the love they have received from others. While nothing in the world exists without God’s love, the world doesn’t understand God’s love because it takes it for granted. When you love God first, you understand why you are to love your neighbor—because He is made in God’s image—but when you try to love your neighbor first, you will never know why you are inclined to do so. Granted, there may be a sense of reciprocity in that you are inclined to love others because of the love they, or perhaps others, have shown you, but that seldom lasts. The one thing you should seek is to love God and dwell in His presence so you can receive His love and return it to Him. When you love God first and more than others, your love for others will become more meaningful.

Is the armor of God your primary equipment?

When you seek to love God first, behold His beauty and meditate in His temple, His armor will be what you turn to in your time of trouble. God’s pavilion that He hides you in is the pavilion of His righteousness and salvation. If you look at the armor God has provided you, you will see that God enables you to maintain the equipment. The shield of faith needs water continually reapplied to keep it supple and to extinguish the fire. The belt and the shoes wear out. The sword needs sharpening. But the helmet and breast-plate remain as they are because God’s righteousness and salvation do not need to be maintained. They simply need to be put on as they are while the rest of the armor needs to be maintained through conditioning. Since your battle is not against our neighbor and the things of this world, you have to put on God’s armor. When you love God first, His armor, not the world's armor will be what you put on to protect yourself.

You will be hated. Make sure you are hated by the world not by God.

When you love God first instead of loving your neighbor first, the world will not understand you. When you refuse to worship the world, the world will hate you. You have to decide to make the Lord your salvation and the strength of your life. The world offers salvation and a sense of strength that can deliver you from some fears—the fear of being unknown etc. However, you can only choose one salvation: you can choose the world’s salvation of notoriety and fame, or you can choose the breast-plate and helmet of God’s salvation. And when you choose God’s salvation, you then take up the rest of His armor. You can choose a love the world doesn’t understand as you prepare to fight a battle the world is oblivious to. The world may mock you as one boxing the air, but fighting God’s battle is better than receiving the love of the world.