Oh, to fall in love at first sight. To have that moment in a crowded room when you make eye contact with that one person and everything else disappears. To feel time stop. To feel like you’re flying.

All that’s left to see is one another.

It is quite intriguing how much we fantasize about this moment. Countless stories are told and retold about two characters having true love grow based off of the smallest, yet ever significant, moment they had. Even apart from fantasy, many remember the moment that they knew their person was the one.

It just takes a moment.

However, I do not think we uphold this standard when it comes to God. I, myself live in a way that is contradictory to the “love at first sight doctrine.”

I have been attending a reputable school of theology and before that I was attending a private school. I have been involved in ministry since second grade and my responsibilities have grown since then. If one was allowed to flex their experience with God, knowledge about God, and involvement in the Kingdom of God, I think I could possibly pop from how puffed up I would be. However…

Do I love God?

Do I love God more than the new Christian does? Do I love Him more than the child who accepted salvation over the summer? More than the middle schooler who cried at camp? Perhaps more than the high schooler who battles every night with temptation in their room?

I have mistaken knowledge gained as love for.

Knowledge is no basis to say you love something extensively. I loved my parents before I knew how much of a medical problem I was as a child. I loved my girlfriend before I knew that she loved to dance. I loved my brother before I knew we could bond over random franchises. More knowledge contributes to my love for all these people, but I am sure that love can be strong with little knowledge.

My parents loved me before they knew my character. Before I could speak my parents loved me deeply.

Love can be made stronger with knowledge, but if love is true it begins strong without it.

Whether it be based on a couple things or “that one moment,” it is a commitment. A commitment based on “that one thing” to move towards someone and go to them as a priority. Based on one moment, it is a commitment to abstain from distractions and obstacles. On one attribute perhaps, it is a commitment to get closer and to learn more.

When we say “grow closer,” or “know deeper” when talking about why want to be with someone, we admit that love causes knowledge rather than knowledge causing love.

May all believers recognize this as they walk with God. May we not let our knowledge make us think we automatically love God more, but may our love, based on that one moment on the cross, drive us to grow closer and know deeper. There is no specific quantity of knowledge that allows us to accomplish loving God.

We ought to be enraptured in love first, by how He has sought and found us.

We ought to love God the moment our eyes are opened to see His love for us the first time. Similar to the idea of time stopping, when we lock eyes with Jesus and our hearts runneth over…

eternity begins.

Love comes first, followed by faith, followed by knowledge gained, resulting in adoration.

We must love God wholly before we pursue Him intellectually. His goodness must bind us to loving and pursuing Him with our mind. If we pursue Him with our understanding, what we our told to not lean on, trying to find another different or fresh reason to tie and anchor ourselves to Him, we overlook the ultimate reason to commit to God through His ultimate act of love as seen in Jesus.