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"You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your mind."
~ Matthew 22:37
Love
or Desire
Love
and desire are not
the same.
We
often confuse the two. Dallas Willard, in a recent conference, made the
distinction fairly sharply. When we say "I love chocolate
cake!" we deceive ourselves. We don't love it. We want to eat it!
If we loved it, we'd care for it.
Love
saves and serves and sacrifices. Desire uses and consumes.
This
begs an important question for each of us. Do we love Christ or desire
Him? It's not just a matter of semantics -- arguing over the fine
definition of words. Our answer to this basic question
will indicate whether we live to serve Him or use Him.
How
often do we follow Him because of what we can get from Him rather than
give to Him? How often do we couch the gospel in terms of reward
rather than repentance -- what we will gain?
To
love Christ is to make Him the center of our attention, with no selfish
ambition. Do we "come to Christ" to honor Him or be
honored by Him?
Love
and desire are not
the same, and to the extent that we confuse the two we diminish our
discipleship and ourselves.
When
we worship the Lord for our benefit, it inevitably becomes a
source of dissatisfaction and conflict. When we serve others to meet
our need for affirmation, it eventually feels hollow. When we pray with
only our needs in focus, the words shrivel in our mouths.
Loves
looks outward. Desire looks inward. Love gives. Desire takes. Love
submits. Desire controls. Love releases. Desire holds tight.
We
might equally ask ourselves whether our marriages are marked by love or
desire; whether we treat our children with authentic love or thinly
disguised desire. But as followers of Jesus, the issue is just as
critical.
Love
is a gift, without strings, without expectations.
May
we love Him (and those around us) more purely today.
In
HOPE –
David
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