Last night, we celebrated the Passover Seder, and tonight, we begin the Counting of the Omer. The omer (a barley sheaf) is counted up from one to forty-nine, the fiftieth day being the celebration of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. The daily count is an opportunity to draw close to God and prepare our hearts to receive the Word of God (Ex. 20) and the Spirit of God (Ac. 2) in a fresh way.

As we begin this seven-week journey, let’s dive into the attributes of God that were revealed to Moses. The bold text represents the Scripture, while the regular text provides an insightful commentary, helping us to grasp the depth and significance of these divine attributes.

Exodus 34:6-8 (Kehot Chumash) “God passed by before him as an image of a man cloaked in a talit and wearing tefilin, and proclaimed the thirteen attributes of Divine mercy: “God has mercy on the sinner before he sins, even though He knows he is going to sin; God has mercy on the sinner after he sins and has repented; He is a benevolent God; He is compassionate and gracious; He is slow to demonstrate His anger by inflicting punishment, waiting instead for the sinner to repent; He is abounding in undeserved kindness for those who do not have enough of their own merits; He abounds also in truth, faithfully rewarding those who obey Him. 7 He preserves the merit of acts of kindness a person does for two thousand generations, adding them to the merits of his descendants; He forgives premeditated sins, rebellious sins, and unintentional sins; He acquits sinners from immediate punishment but does not acquit them altogether, punishing them instead little by little—unless they repent, for He acquits those who repent properly and He does not acquit those who do not. He remembers the premeditated sins of the fathers, adding their demerits to those of the children and the children’s children, but only if they follow in their fathers’ misguided footsteps, and only up to the third and the fourth generation.” Thus, God’s attribute of rewards is 500 times greater than His attribute of punishment, since He preserves merit for 2000 generations but demerit only for four. 8 As soon as he saw the image of God’s presence beginning to pass by and heard God beginning to speak—before God shielded him with His hand—Moses hastened to bow down low and, without any pause, prostrate himself before this direct revelation of God.When God shielded Moses with His hand, Moses’ face became radiant.”

Benevolent, compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness—all of these describe God’s love, which is the foundation of our journey. God is not looking to punish repentant sinners; He wants us to come to Him, to return to our original place in Him, to walk with Him, and to have fellowship with Him.

Jesus said the greatest commandment was to love God and love others. He went so far as to say we should be known by our love (Mk. 12:30-31; Jn. 13:34-35).

Romans 5:1-5 CSB “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, 4 endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. 5 This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

Notice that it says hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts. Romans 12:10 tells us that we should be kind to one another by deferring to one another.

We are all familiar with the Armor of God listed in Ephesians chapter six, but did you know that love is also part of our armor? 1 Thessalonians 5:8 CSB “But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled and put on the armor of faith and love, and a helmet of the hope of salvation.” Galatians 5:6 tells us that faith works by love. Paul prayed that the Philippians would increase in love more and more. We should pray these things and confess the love of God over our lives every day.

You could start by saying, “Because the love of God is in my heart, I am increasing in love every day. Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Because I walk in love God keeps me from stumbling. Jesus directs my heart in the love of God in every situation. My soul has been purified by the truth and I love others with a pure heart. Father, I thank you today that I am full of your love and the enemy will not be given a place to take me out of love. I love you Lord, I love others, help me to love others better and be a blessing to them in Jesus name!”

That short confession is based on the following Scriptures: Rom. 5:5; Phil. 1:9; quoting 1 Cor. 13:4-7 AMPC; 1 Jn. 2:10; 2 Ths. 3:5; 1 Pt. 1:22.

There are many other love Scriptures that I have written in my journal that aren’t adapted in that confession. There are days when I go through all the highlighted verses in my love list, confessing that the love of God is flowing in me, uprooting anger and judgment. Some days, I’ll say that judgment can’t live in a heart full of love. I refuse to listen to people with a judgmental ear. 

Our love walk is the cornerstone of our relationship with others. We need to keep ourselves stirred up in the love of God, and the best way to do that is to confess the Scriptures out loud; that’s why I wrote that short confession. Even if you can’t read a list of love Scriptures every day, you can take a moment to say that confession or go through love Scriptures and make your own. I encourage you to have a written confession of Scriptures and a list of Scriptures you can read aloud. The confession is like a spiritual energy shot, and the list is like a full meal. We will do confessions in other areas as we count the omer, but it all begins with love. Start a habit of confessing the love of God, not just for yourself, but that you walk in the love of God towards others. Faith works by love, so if we want our faith to work, we’ve got to walk in the love of God.

If you need a resource to help establish you in God’s love, I encourage you to first look up every reference to love in the Scriptures. Not every verse will be applicable, but this will also help you navigate and learn the Bible. As for another resource alongside the Scripture list you compiled, Kenneth E. Hagin’s book Love The Way To Victory is a great help.