God, How Do I Love Thee?

On a typical Saturday morning, my seven-year-old son was supposed to be cleaning his room. I went downstairs to find him, as expected, not cleaning, but happily playing with the very Legos he was meant to be putting away.

"Honey, you need to clear your Legos off the floor so we can actually walk in here," I said, trying to sound patient.

"But Mom," he whined, "it's too hard! There are too many of them!"

I took a breath. "You've done it before, and I know you can do it again. Please, just get them cleaned up."

His protest grew louder, his voice hitting that perfect pitch of childhood complaint. "It's just too hard! I can't do it!"

That’s when a spark of an idea hit me. I made him an offer I knew he couldn’t refuse. "If you can get every single Lego off this floor in the next five minutes," I said with a sly smile, "we'll go to the store this afternoon and buy you a brand new Lego set."

You can guess what happened next. I’d never seen that kid move so fast. The floor was spotless in record time.

Fast forward a few years. Just a couple of days before my birthday, we were in Target when my son, Beckham, turned to me with a serious expression. "Mom, what do you want for your birthday?"

I smiled and told him, "Honestly, Beck, all I want is for you to be good and to listen. That would be the best gift you could give me."

He thought for a moment and then replied, "But Mom, I really want to build you something. I want to give you Lego flowers for your birthday."

And so, we bought a Lego orchid set. I paid for the gift that he would then build and proudly give to me on my birthday.

At first glance, these might seem like two simple stories about a boy and his Legos. But they've taught me a great deal about love and our relationship with God. At church, we often speak of God's immense love for us, His children. We talk about recognizing His personal expressions of that love in our lives. But do we stop to consider how we love Him in return? Do we show our love in a way that He truly recognizes?

Let’s go back to that first story. The swift cleanup didn't just leave me with a clean floor; it also left me with a pang of sadness. As my son happily obeyed, all I could think was, I wish your love and respect for me had been enough. I wish you had done it because I asked, not because you expected a reward. His actions, like so many of our own, were driven by the thought, "What's in it for me?"

I believe God understands this part of our human nature. Perhaps that’s why the scriptures are filled with promises—if you do this, you will receive that. He meets us where we are.

So, how do we mature in our love for God? How do we show our love in a way He will truly appreciate?

The answer, for me, lies in the second story. The only gift I truly wanted from my son was his good behavior, his willingness to listen. In the same way, God has asked for our obedience. Think about it: just as I paid for the Lego flowers my son gave me, everything we possess already belongs to our Heavenly Father. The only thing that is truly ours to give is our agency—our freedom to choose Him, to follow His guidance, and to obey His commandments. The purest form of this gift is when we offer it freely, without seeking anything in return.

Christ is our perfect example of how to love God. As we study His life, we learn how to better show our love for our Father. Then, when we pray and say, "Heavenly Father, we love thee," He will know we mean it, because He will see our sincere desire to obey and follow Him, not for a reward, but simply out of love.