The Most Important Resources On Earth
Loving God deeply is the greatest command and calling of the Christian life — and the greatest challenge. Not because God is difficult to find, but because our hearts are prone to drift. Hebrews 2:1 exhorts us that spiritual drift happens quietly, subtly, and often without our awareness: “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.”
We rarely drift because we reject God. We drift because we stop giving Him time. And when time slips, everything else begins to slip with it.
Yet God has not left us to struggle alone. He has already made three powerful, unfailing resources available to you— His Word, His Spirit, and His Church. These are not optional add-ons or spiritual accessories. They are the most important resources in your Christian life because they are given for one central purpose: to help you fulfill the first and great commandment — to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind.
These resources are promised never to fail, they are designed to mature you, and they are the very means by which God draws you deeper into His love. If loving God is the greatest command, then the resources God provides to help you love Him are necessarily the greatest resources you possess.
But before we explore these three resources, we must begin with the essential ingredient that all three resources share in common.
Why Time Is Essential for Loving God Deeply
If God has given us the greatest resources to help us love Him, then the question becomes simple: How do those resources actually shape our hearts? The answer begins with something every relationship requires — time.
Loving God does not grow automatically in our life. It grows the same way every meaningful relationship grows: through intentional, consistent time spent together. If a father never spent time with his child, the child would eventually question his love. Not because the father stopped loving, but because love cannot be felt where time is not given.
The same is true with God.
You cannot love Him deeply if you rarely give Him your time.
Time is the essential ingredient because:
- It takes time to be in God’s Word.
- It takes time to walk in the Spirit.
- It takes time to be with God’s people.
These three resources are powerful, but they do not shape your heart automatically. They work as you give God time — intentional, unhurried, relational time. When time with God decreases, your love inevitably weakens. When time with God increases, your love inevitably grows. The pattern is consistent, the outcome predictable, and the truth of their importance unmistakable. It is that simple — and that profound.
And here is the beautiful truth:
God has already given you everything you need to love Him — you simply need to spend time using what He has provided.
So now, with time in its rightful place as the essential ingredient, let’s look at the first resource God uses to nurture your love.
How God’s Word Builds and Strengthens Loving God Deeply
The more you learn about God and His love for you, the more your heart is stirred to love Him in return. This is not accidental — it is intentional. God designed you with the capacity to receive His love and the calling to respond to His love. You were created not only to need His love, but also to love Him back. And Scripture is the primary way to learn about God’s love for you.
Jesus said that all of Scripture is ultimately about Him. Speaking to the religious leaders, He declared, “These are they which testify of Me” (John 5:39). In other words, the entire Biblical story — from Genesis to Revelation — points to Christ. Every theme, every promise, every shadow, every hope finds its fulfillment in Him.
So when you study Scripture, you are not merely learning information; you are learning about Christ and His love for you.
Scripture reveals:
- Who God is
- How God loves
- What God desires
- What God promises
- How God works in your life
Every page shows you more of His character, His compassion, His holiness, His patience, His mercy, and His faithfulness. And as that knowledge grows, love grows with it. This is why Paul prayed that believers would “know the love of Christ… that they might be filled with all the fulness of God” (Ephesians 3:17–19).
You cannot know this love without Scripture.
And this is why time in the Word matters so deeply. Without it:
- You forget God’s goodness
- You drift spiritually
- Your love grows cold
But with it:
- Your love abounds
- Your faith strengthens
- Your heart stays tender
- Your mind stays anchored
As Scripture forms your mind and awakens your affections, it does so through many different pathways. God has not limited you to a single method of taking in His Word; He has given you multiple ways to engage it so that truth can reach your heart from every angle. Each practice strengthens your love for God in a unique way, and together they create a steady, growing, enduring affection for Him.
Seven Ways Scripture Helps You Grow in Loving God Deeply
Because Jesus said, “These are they which testify of Me” (John 5:39), every Biblical discipline becomes a way of seeing more of Him. Each practice is not merely a habit — it is growth in knowledge and understanding of the One to whom all Scripture points. As you learn more of the Word, you are learning Christ, loving Christ, and being shaped into His likeness.
Hearing the Word — listening with a ready heart (Luke 8:15).
- When you hear Scripture preached or read aloud, you are hearing the voice of Christ speaking through His Word. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ.
Reading the Word — daily intake of truth (Deuteronomy 17:19).
- Daily reading keeps your heart near the One the Scriptures reveal. The more you read, the more clearly you see His character, His compassion, and His ways.
Studying the Word — digging deeper (2 Timothy 2:15).
- Study takes you beyond the surface so you can behold the fullness of Christ in the text — His love, His wisdom, His authority, His promises, His redemptive work.
Meditating on the Word — thinking long and slow (Joshua 1:8).
- Meditation lets truth sink into your soul until Christ becomes your delight. You linger over His words until they shape your desires and affections.
Memorizing the Word — storing truth in your heart (Deuteronomy 11:18).
- When Scripture lives inside you, Christ’s voice is always near. Memorization gives the Spirit material to use in moments of temptation, weakness, or need.
Applying the Word — obeying what you learn (James 1:22–25).
- Obedience is love in motion. When you do what Christ commands, your love for Him deepens, your trust strengthens, and your life aligns with His heart.
Sharing the Word — reinforcing truth through teaching (Colossians 3:16).
- When you speak Scripture to others, you point them to Christ — and in the process, your own understanding and affection for Him grow stronger.
Each of these disciplines draws you further into the heart of God because each one draws you further into Christ. The Bible is not just information — it is God’s invitation to know Him, love Him, and walk with Him.
How the Holy Spirit Empowers You to Love God Deeply
The Word shows you who God is and how He loves you.
The Spirit helps you experience that love in a real and personal way.
Scripture fills your mind with truth, but the Spirit warms your heart with that truth. Both are essential, and each plays a different role in helping you love God.
Romans 5:5 says, “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.”
This means the Spirit pours God’s love into your heart in ways you could never create on your own. He takes what you read in Scripture and makes it alive, felt, and deeply real.
The Spirit strengthens your love by:
- Convicting you of sin — removing what dulls your love
- Illuminating Scripture — helping you see truth clearly
- Guiding your decisions — leading you into God’s will
- Empowering your prayers — giving you strength to seek God
- Producing spiritual fruit — shaping your character into Christlikeness
- Revealing Christ to your heart — making Jesus precious to you
Without the Spirit, your love slowly grows cold.
With the Spirit, your love grows strong, steady, and enduring.
How Prayer Helps You Grow in Loving God Deeply
If the Spirit is the power behind your love for God, then prayer is the main channel through which that power flows. Prayer is not a ritual — it is an essential discipline for building a relationship with God. It is the place where love is nurtured, strengthened, and sustained.
David said, “I love the Lord, because He hath heard my voice” (Psalm 116:1).
Love grows when you know you are heard. Prayer is your direct, personal connection with God.
Prayer nurtures love because:
- God listens
- God responds
- God comforts
- God strengthens
- God guides
Jesus taught that prayer gives access to God’s power (Mark 11:22–24). But powerful prayer doesn’t happen by accident. It grows through:
- Faith — revealed truth about God’s character
- Obedience — walking in His ways
- A clean heart — removing what hinders fellowship
- Alignment with God’s will — praying as Jesus prayed
And when you feel weak, distracted, or unsure how to pray, the Spirit steps in to help. Scripture says, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8:26).
He strengthens your prayers, aligns your desires, and draws you closer to God.
The Spirit fuels your love by continually pulling your heart toward the Father.
And as the Spirit works in you along with His Word, God uses His third resource to shape your love even more.
How God’s Church Helps You Love God More Deeply
You cannot love God well while isolating yourself from His people. Scripture makes this unmistakably clear.
1 John 4:20–21 teaches this with unmistakable clarity: “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.”
In other words, loving God and loving God’s people are inseparable — and God designed it that way.
Because of this, the church is far more than a place you attend. It is a resource God Himself gives to mature you, to shape your love, and to perfect your walk with Him. Ephesians 4:11–14 explains this purpose plainly:
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine…”
God built His church and gives it— its leaders, its members, its fellowship — to perfect you, meaning to mature you. And Biblical maturity always and necessarily includes the first and great command to grow in love for God and be edified by those who love God.
To be “perfected” means to be shaped, strengthened, and built up — and God uses His people to do this work in you. Through the church, God helps you:
- Grow in love for Him
- Stay accountable
- Be encouraged
- Serve others
- Receive counsel
- Experience fellowship
- Live out obedience
You cannot mature in love for God without being around people who love God. Their faith strengthens yours. Their obedience challenges yours. Their love stirs yours.
As a participating member in the church that Christ Himself adds you to, your love for God grows stronger — and your life helps others love Him more as well. In the church you hear songs that stir love for God, testimonies that celebrate love for God, counsel that directs you toward loving God deeply, and lessons that teach you how to love God with all your heart.
This is exactly why Hebrews 10:24–25 commands believers to assemble together — because gathering is how we “provoke one another unto love and good works.”
You cannot be provoked to love from a distance. It takes time to gather, time to listen, time to encourage, time to be sharpened, and time to be edified.
Jesus reinforced this truth when He said that whatever you do for others, you do for Him (Matthew 25:40). Loving people is one of the clearest ways you express love for God.
Why Loving God Deeply Always Produces Love for People
When God’s love fills your heart, it never stays contained. Love for God always moves outward toward people. The same love God pours into you through His Word, His Spirit, and His Church begins to show itself in the way you treat others. You express that love through:
- Compassion
- Forgiveness
- Generosity
- Encouragement
- Service
- Unity
These are not optional virtues — they are the fruit of a heart being perfected in love—His love. And this is why the church matters so much. Fellowship becomes a joy, not a burden, because it is the place where love is practiced, strengthened, and shared. Psalm 55:14 captures this beautifully:
“We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.”
A Christian who loves God will love His people — and will grow through them.
God uses the church to mature your love, strengthen your faith, and shape your character.
But there is one more truth that ties all of this together.
Why Obedience Is the Visible Expression of Loving God Deeply
This is where Jesus makes the connection unmistakable. Loving God is not merely something you feel — it is something you live. The Great Commandment calls you to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and Jesus shows you exactly how that love is expressed.
Jesus said in John 14:21:
“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me.”
And again in John 14:23:
“If a man love me, he will keep my words.”
Jesus ties love and obedience together so tightly that they cannot be separated. Obedience is the visible proof of love.
It is how you fulfill the Great Commandment in the rhythms of daily life.
Obedience expresses love because:
- Love responds to God’s commands
- Love desires to please Him
- Love submits to His authority
- Love trusts His wisdom
- Love follows His ways
When you obey, you are not performing for God — you are loving Him. Obedience becomes the natural response of a heart that treasures Him. You want to serve Him, and you gladly — not grudgingly — follow His commands because love makes obedience a joy, not a duty.
You are choosing His will over your own, His wisdom over your impulses, His voice over the world’s noise.
And Jesus attaches two remarkable promises to those who obey — promises that draw you deeper into relationship with Him:
- He will manifest Himself to you (John 14:21).
- The Father and the Son will make their home with you (John 14:23).
These describe a real, growing closeness with God — a deeper sense of His presence, His voice, and His work in your life.
- Obedience opens the door to fellowship.
As you walk with God, fellowship becomes the environment where love grows.
- Fellowship strengthens love.
Your affection for God becomes deeper, richer, and more joyful.
- Love fuels obedience.
A heart that loves God gladly follows Him.
And so the cycle continues:
Obedience → Fellowship → Love → More Obedience.
This is the beautiful cycle of spiritual growth — the very cycle that enables you to love God with all your heart, fulfill the Great Commandment, and live out the Great Commission with joy.
How Loving God Deeply Fuels the Great Commission
As Jesus restores Peter after his failure, He does something striking. Before entrusting Peter with the responsibility of feeding His sheep, Jesus asks him a single, penetrating question three times:
“Lovest thou me?”
Jesus was not being sentimental. He was revealing the first qualification for ministry and the central resource for discipleship: love for Him.
Before Peter could lead others to love Christ, Jesus wanted him to understand that Peter had to love Him.
This was Jesus’ vetting process — a heart check before a ministry assignment.
Why?
Because you will disciple others to love what you love.
- If your heart burns for Christ, you will lead others to Him.
- If your heart is cold, you will produce cold disciples.
- If your heart is distracted, you will produce distracted disciples.
- If your heart is divided, you will produce divided disciples.
Jesus’ question was not a test of Peter’s knowledge, skill, or leadership ability. It was the insistence for his affection. A vetting of his heart. A confirmation of his love.
Only after establishing Peter’s love did Jesus say, “Feed my sheep.”
Jesus was teaching a timeless truth:
Ministry on behalf of Christ must flow from love — not duty.
- A heart that loves Christ deeply will naturally lead others to love Him deeply.
- A heart that treasures Christ will teach others to treasure Him.
- A heart captivated by Christ will point others to Christ.
And this connects directly to the theme of loving God:
God gives resources — His Word, His Spirit, His Church — to help you love Him; because only a heart strengthened in love can strengthen others in love.
This is why love is central to everything God calls you to do:
- Love is the engine of discipleship.
- Love is the fuel of service.
- Love is the heartbeat of the Great Commission.
The Great Commission is not merely a command to teach — it is a call to teach others to love the One you love.
This is how the Great Commandment empowers the Great Commission.
Practical Steps for Loving God More Deeply This Week
Love for God does not grow automatically. It grows because you intentionally take time to use the resources God has given you — His Word, His Spirit, and His Church — and you obey His command to engage them. Love deepens when you make deliberate choices that draw your heart toward Him.
Here are simple, daily steps that help you use these resources well:
- Resource: Word of God. Discipline: Spend time in Scripture and ask, “What does this teach me about God’s love?”
- Resource: Spirit of God. Discipline: Take time to pray daily with intention — talk to God as a close friend, not out of routine.
- Resource: Church of God. Discipline: Make time to assemble with believers in your church who stir your heart toward God — let others sharpen and strengthen your love.
Obeying God and using His resources will deepen your love for Him.
Each of these steps requires time, and each is an act of obedience. But every step uses the resources God has given you to help your love for Him grow deeper.
Make this commitment:
“I will nurture my love for God by taking one deliberate step every day.”
Because here is the pattern God designed:
- Small steps grow strong love.
- Strong love produces joyful obedience.
- Joyful obedience leads to deeper fellowship with God.
- And deeper fellowship fuels even greater love.
FAQ: How to Grow in Loving God Deeply
What does it mean to love God deeply?
Loving God deeply means responding to His love with obedience, affection, and trust. It is a relationship shaped by His Word, empowered by His Spirit, and strengthened through His Church.
How can I grow in loving God every day?
You grow by taking intentional steps: spending time in Scripture, praying with purpose, obeying His commands, loving others, and fellowshipping with believers in your church who stir your heart toward Him.
Why does obedience matter in loving God?
Obedience is the visible expression of love. Jesus said, “If a man love me, he will keep my words.” Obedience opens the door to deeper fellowship with God.
How does the church help me love God more?
God uses His people to encourage, sharpen, and strengthen your faith. Fellowship is one of the primary resources God gives to help you grow in love for Him. He designed His church to provide counsel, training, encouragement, and living examples of how to fulfill the first and great command and participate in the Great Commission.
What small steps can I take today to love God more?
Read Scripture daily, pray intentionally, participate in your church, obey the first and great command, and encourage someone else to do the same.
Going Further in Loving God Deeply
This is the fourth lesson in the five‑part series, “The Most Important Things Every Christian and Church Needs to Know.” Each part builds on the others to help you grow strong and steady in your love for God.
If you want to grow in your love for God, use the resources He has given you — His Word, His Spirit, and His Church. These are His chosen tools to strengthen your walk with Him.
To continue learning the essential truths God wants you to know, read the next lesson: “The Seven Most Important Church Truths to Know.”
You can also explore additional discipleship resources at Grow Closer to God or begin discipling others with Disciple Like Jesus.
If you missed the first lesson, you can find “The Most Important Things” here.
