Jesus said the most important command in the Scriptures was to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37). When we focus on the Word of God, we often focus on doctrines. That is because the Holy Spirit leads us to bring our minds, our thoughts, into conformity with God's will. But the Spirit does not stop there. Knowledge of God's purpose and will must be put to use, or it is worthless.
Our relationship with God is characterized by love. Love is more than emotion, but it certainly includes emotion — a powerful affection. When we love him, we will adore him, seek him, desire to be like him and seek to please him in everything we do.
The Bible describes a good relationship with God in several ways. In a simple analogy, he is the Lord and Master, and we are his slaves. This analogy is correct — we should honor, reverence, and obey our perfect and good Lord — but it is not the complete picture. Jesus said we could have even more: "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you" (John 15:15).
It is often said that Christianity is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. "Relationship," of course, is a rather general word. We must ask what kind of relationship we have. Some people ignore Jesus. Some are afraid, and some are angry. These are defective relationships.
