“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord (Yahweh) your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. Exodus 20:7 NIV
Love the Lord (Yahweh) your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:5 NIV
Yahweh, the self-existent God, is the supreme name of God for his chosen people by which he revealed himself to them. He is a personal God who has a relationship with his people. He spoke to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob although he hadn’t revealed himself to them by this name. He spoke to Moses and called his people to love him, Yahweh, with all their heart, soul, and strength. He loves his people with an everlasting love.
The Lord (Yahweh) appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. Jeremiah 31:3 NIV
His desire is that we reciprocate his love.
He covenants to love those who love him, up to a thousand generations.
Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. Deuteronomy 7:9 NIV
Yahweh made a covenant and he will never break his covenant with us. However, notice that his covenant of love is with those who love him and keep his commandments. Although he will never break his covenant with us, we can break it from our side by not loving him and by breaking his commandments. How he longs for us to rest in his love as the apostle John did and he referred to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. Not that he was loved more than the others, but he had understood the Lord’s love for him. Have you come to a deep experiential understanding of God’s love for you, or do you only know it because the Bible says so? Of course, the Bible is God’s Word and so it is God telling us of his love for us. However, we can still only have an objective knowledge of God’s love and not really rest in that love to be able to say “I’m the disciple whom Jesus loved”. The Lord said, “Love as I have loved you.” We love him, and others, because we really know that God loves us, and have found rest in that love.
We would never misuse the name of someone we love. We would honour and respect it at all times in thought, word, and deed.