Do you love God?

[Medicine*Woman]

water: Loving is something that makes the one who loves to be forever less than the one whom he is loving. Loving puts the loving one down. Loving is at least unpleasant. Loving is something one normally wouldn't do. Loving comes at the cost of self-respect.

So, to love God eventually comes at the cost of self-respect (and the other things mentioned above)?
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M*W: Loving empowers the lover. As long as people believe that loving god with the denial of self is the right way to go, they will not find anything but a false truth. Loving a god who is "somewhere out there," is denying the godliness within. As long as fools continue to believe in the Jesus of the NT, they are going dead against what the real Jesus taught, and that was the kingdom of God is WITHIN. To look for God outside of oneself is futile. Christians who believe in the NT are totally lost. The only truth about Jesus and his teachings can be found in the Gnostic Gospels written by the people who Jesus knew and walked with on Earth.

 

[Jenyar]

Is this reversable -- if we believe God, do we believe Jesus?

Yes:

1 John 5:9-11
We accept man's testimony, but God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son.
Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.​

And I just can't hold the idea in my head that to love God is to obey His commandments.
Obeying is something that makes the one who obeys to be forever less than the one whom he is obeying. Obeying puts the obeying one down. Obeying is at least unpleasant. Obeying is something one normally wouldn't do. Obeying comes at the cost of self-respect.

Now, to replace "obey" with "love":

Loving is something that makes the one who loves to be forever less than the one whom he is loving. Loving puts the loving one down. Loving is at least unpleasant. Loving is something one normally wouldn't do. Loving comes at the cost of self-respect.

Really?

So, to love God eventually comes at the cost of self-respect (and the other things mentioned above)?

Yes, obedience is unpleasant if it takes away your claim to godhood, i.e. sovereignity over your life. And criminals certainly find laws unpleasant. Children find their parents' choices unpleasant -- like if they'd rather stay at home than go to school. It puts them down, it takes away their freedom and individuality. It makes them puppets of authority. They're certain they will forever be treated like children.

Yet isn't it ironic that criminal behaviour is so like a rebellious child, so irresponsible and selfish? So aware of the laws it is breaking, and so good at not getting caught.

Now, replace "disobey" with "love":

Who loves the law? Those who enjoy its rewards; those who want to live without fear and in peace, security and an environment of trust. Who loves their parents? Those who gladly obey them, even when they would rather stay up late, take drugs with their friends, and not go to school. Of course, if the parents are obedient to God as well, they cannot beat their children senseless and call it "love".

As we learn, love "always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres" and "knowledge puffs up, but love builds up". These properties of love are not negotiable, they are definitive. Redefining love to suit yourself is just as "disobedient" as neglecting it. And that is how we can say for certain that obeying God gives self-respect without diminishing God's authority. Since love is a service to someone besides yourself, it certainly means to count yourself less than them. Trying to become greater than someone, or to be independent when you need them, doesn't show how much you love them.

Love builds people up, and doesn't break them down. If that's what God wants, then doing that is obedience to Him. If we want it too, it will be freedom; if we don't want it, it will be restrictive, and we will resent it.