Core Value #1: Love God

Lead Pastor

Josh Clarke

Published on Nov 19, 2025

Last updated on Nov 21, 2025

At Manna Church, we have three core values, and the first one is the most important one. It is this: Love God.

In Matthew 22, a lawyer is trying to trap Jesus and asks him, "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?". Jesus replies:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets
- Matthew 22:36-40

In other words, Jesus is saying the entire Old Testament can be summarized in these two commands. And the first one is Love God.

The Source of the Command

Jesus didn't just make that up on the spot. He was actually quoting from Moses. One of the most popular verses in the Old Testament from the Jewish scriptures is:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.
- Deuteronomy 6:5-15:21

So when we say "Love God," we're using a simple phrase to communicate a massive, all-encompassing idea.

This command is echoed all throughout the Bible. One of my favorites where it's echoed is actually in Joshua 22:5:

Only be careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cling to him, and to serve him with all your heart, and with all your soul.
- Joshua 22:5

What Loving God Means

This is so powerful because loving God is not just believing he exists. It is not just a feeling. Loving God is:

Radical obedience to him and to his ways.
A deep adoration for him.
Depending on God as your source of life.
Clinging to him in every season.
Serving him with unrelenting devotion.

That's what we mean when we say "Love God" as a church. This means we put God first. He is our top priority in every decision, every service, and every plan.

More Than Just Sundays

That's what Sunday mornings at Manna Church are all about: adoring him, praising him, giving him glory. But loving God isn't just a once-a-week moment. It's walking with him every day through:

Prayer.
His word.
Obedience.
Dependence upon the Holy Spirit.

It's trusting him with our future and honoring him with our choices. It's spending time in his presence, letting every part of our lives be an act of worship to him. Even how we work, how we parent, and how we treat others—it all reflects our love for him.

At Manna Church, we're going to talk about loving God, loving each other, and loving the world. But all of that starts right here with this first core value: loving him first. Because when our hearts are aligned with his, everything else flows from that place.

So wherever you are in your journey, whether you're brand new to your relationship with Jesus or you've been walking with him for years, our invitation is simple:

Love God. Know him more. Trust him deeper because he loved you first.