← How to Love God
Contents · 50 / 57
  1. Opening Scripture
  2. Preface
  3. How to Use This Book
  4. Study Features and Diagrams
  5. The Greatest Commandment
  6. What Does It Mean to Love God?
  7. With All Your Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength
  8. Why God Is Worthy of Our Love
  9. We Love Because He First Loved Us
  10. The Gospel and the Transformation of Love
  11. Why We Do Not Naturally Love God
  12. A New Heart That Loves God
  13. Seeing the Glory of God in Christ
  14. Justification, Assurance, and Love
  15. Love, Emotion, and Obedience
  16. Is Love for God an Emotion?
  17. If You Love Me, Keep My Commandments
  18. Loving God When You Do Not Feel Love
  19. Duty, Delight, and the Formation of Holy Affections
  20. The Practices Through Which Love Grows
  21. Knowing God Through Scripture
  22. Loving God Through Prayer
  23. Worship, Praise, and the Lord's Day
  24. Repentance and the Restoration of Fellowship
  25. Obedience in Ordinary Life
  26. Loving God by Loving People
  27. Evangelism, Mission, and Love for God
  28. Loving God Through Suffering
  29. Obstacles, Counterfeits, and Spiritual Warfare
  30. Idolatry and Rival Loves
  31. Legalism, Moralism, and Religious Performance
  32. Emotionalism and the Search for Spiritual Experiences
  33. Distraction, Busyness, and Digital Formation
  34. Temptation, Spiritual Warfare, and Perseverance
  35. Growing in Mature Love
  36. Love and the Fear of God
  37. Loving God With the Mind
  38. Loving God in Community
  39. A Lifetime of Loving God
  40. The Eternal Enjoyment of God
  41. Study and Practice Resources
  42. Key Bible Passages About Loving God
  43. Frequently Asked Questions
  44. Thirty Days: Growing in Love for God
  45. Seven Days for Spiritual Coldness
  46. Why Does God Feel Distant? A Diagnostic Guide
  47. A Flexible Rule of Life
  48. Prayers for Growing in Love
  49. Small-Group Study Guide
  50. Personal Spiritual Assessment
  51. Pastoral Case Studies
  52. Glossary
  53. Recommended Resources
  54. Endnotes, Source Notes, and Bibliography
  55. Scripture Index
  56. Subject Index
  57. Final Exhortation

Study and Practice Resources

Personal Spiritual Assessment

~2 min read

This assessment does not produce a salvation score. Use it to identify patterns for prayer, repentance, support, and growth. Mark each statement: rarely, sometimes, often, or unclear. Then choose only two priorities.

Gospel foundation

  • My confidence before God rests primarily in Christ rather than recent performance.

  • Failure leads me toward confession and faith rather than concealment or self-punishment.

  • I can distinguish justification from progressive sanctification.

  • Gratitude for grace increasingly motivates obedience.

Affection and trust

  • I seek God himself, not only the benefits I want from him.

  • I can name emotions honestly before God without letting them become final authority.

  • In uncertainty, I increasingly trust God’s character and promises.

  • I grieve sin as offense against God and harm to others.

Scripture and prayer

  • I read Scripture in context rather than only selecting comforting fragments.

  • Truth regularly becomes prayer, worship, repentance, or obedience.

  • My prayer includes praise, confession, gratitude, asking, intercession, and lament.

  • My practices are sustainable and honest rather than performative.

Obedience and holiness

  • I respond to clear commands without waiting indefinitely for the right feeling.

  • Repeated temptations are brought into accountable community.

  • My body, sexuality, money, work, speech, and technology are under active discipleship.

  • I make restitution and practical changes when I repent.

Love for people and church

  • My claimed love for God produces patience, generosity, truth, and service.

  • I participate in a local church as a member of a body rather than only a consumer.

  • I can forgive without confusing forgiveness with immediate trust.

  • I receive correction and help without treating dependence as failure.

Mission and hope

  • I pray for and speak with people who do not know Christ.

  • God’s purpose among all peoples influences my giving, prayer, and plans.

  • Suffering is brought into lament and resurrection hope rather than simplistic answers.

  • I think of Christian maturity as lifelong perseverance, not constant intensity.

Review questions

  1. Which two areas show the clearest grace already at work?

  2. Which two areas require repentance or support?

  3. What one practice will address the highest priority?

  4. Who will pray, advise, or act with you?

  5. When will you review the response - in two weeks or one month?