Can love be measured? We can’t put a number on it, but I believe the measure of love is how much a person is willing to give up for someone else.
For example, John 3:16 shows the measure of God’s love for the world: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should have everlasting life.”
How big was God’s love? God SO loved the world that He gave His only Son. The measure of God’s love for us is that He sacrificed what was of the highest value to Him.
The measure of love is shown by its willingness to sacrifice for someone else.
John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends”
God loves us and has shown us this by His immense sacrifice, and He desires us to love Him like that too. How much does He want us to love Him? He wants us to love Him just as if He was the only thing in life that mattered:
Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.
I have been blessed to see this illustrated in different ways in the Bible, such as the Psalms:
Psalm 45:10-11 “Listen, O daughter, give attention and incline your ear:
Forget your people and your father’s house; Then the King will desire your beauty.
Because He is your Lord, bow down to Him.”
I suppose there is nothing more precious on this earth to a person than their family. But even compared to this, God says ‘forget your people and your father’s house.’
He is the King of Kings and everyone in the kingdom will worship Him alone and see Him as so precious that nothing else matters compared to Him:
Zechariah 14:9 “And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one.”
Paul was an example of a man who had an attitude like this. See what he wrote to the Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 2:2 “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”
I’m sure I’m not alone in saying I am still fighting to try to be single-minded – with my eyes set on God alone (to know the Father and the Son – John 17:3). But at least I can (like Paul) determinemyself to be like that! We may not be there yet, but each of us can determine with our whole hearts that we will love God with all of our heart, soul and mind (Matt 22:37).
Psalm 27:4 “One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to meditate in His temple.”
We can see how much we love God by taking an honest look at where His priorities fall in our lives. What are we willing to lay on the altar for His sake? It’s easy to read the Bible, listen to sermons, pray for our loved ones, and try to do good when it’s convenient. But the real test is when we have to lay something down (our own will) for God when it’s a sacrifice.
1 John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome”