"... for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul."

                            -Deuteronomy 13:3 

Oftentimes it is easy for a child of God to get so used to going through the same spiritual routine every day that we forget about the importance of truly loving God. Jeremiah 3:9 speaks of the dangers of going through the motions, while being inwardly devoid of any love for the Lord:

"And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD."

In John 21:15-17, Jesus asked Simon Peter three times whether or not he loved Him. No, He didn't ask him if he had been faithful to obey His word, or if he prayed, fasted, etc. Surely we must be careful to do those things, for if we truly love the Lord obedience must follow (John 14:15); but just because the outside is right doesn't necessarily mean the inward is right as well.

"The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee." 

                            -Jeremiah 31:3

This is the kind of love that the Lord has had toward us, and it is also the type of love that we should have for Him.