Hard to love a God you can't see

Here’s a fair objection, and a lot of people carry it quietly: How am I supposed to love someone I’ve never seen? You can love your children because you can hold them. God is not in the room in that way.

Peter was writing to people who had the same problem. He had walked with Jesus. They hadn’t.

Scripture — 1 Peter 1:8 (OTB)

And though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy beyond words and full of glory.

Peter isn’t telling them to try. He’s telling them what’s already happening. They haven’t seen Him, and they love Him anyway. So it can be done.

How it happens

How do you come to love someone you can’t see? By knowing them.

Think about someone you love who is far away, a grandmother you only talk to on the phone, a friend overseas. You don’t love them because they’re in front of you. You love them because you know them: how they laugh, what they care about, what they did for you, how they treat people.

It’s the same with God. The relationship doesn’t depend on seeing Him with your eyes. It depends on knowing His character, believing His Word, and learning to recognise His work.

Knowing about, or knowing

There’s a trap here. You can know a lot of facts about God, the right answers, the doctrines, the verses, and still not know Him. That’s like knowing a man’s height, birthday and address and never having talked to him.

What you’re after is discovering who He actually is:

• His character. What is He like?
• What He loves. What makes Him glad?
• What He values. What does He care about that you don’t?
• His faithfulness, His mercy, His justice, His holiness.

The more of that you see, the more there is to love. People don’t love a definition. They love a person.

Recite this

I come to love God by coming to know Him.

Try it this week

Answer these two questions in writing: What does it mean to me to love someone I can’t see? What do I need to know about God so I can love Him more? Then talk your answer over with one person.

I will write my answers on ________________, and I will talk them over with ________________.