Where’s the Love?

Posted by David | Filed under Spirituality

Over this past weekend I helped chaperone a youth retreat, which is always an experience. Like mission trips, God can often teach you as much or more than the people to whom you’re ministering. Though I believe the students who came heard and understood the message behind the retreat, I think that it really hit home in my heart like never before. The message, simply enough, was about loving God.

Too often in Christianity we strive to be used by God, to do great things that really are glorifying to Him, but our emphasis is quite literally on doing those things. We pray and sing “use me, oh Lord…” as if to remind Him that we have talents and abilities with which to execute His plan. The thing is, that focus is not what Jesus taught — His words were

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matt. 22:37)

Our focus should not be the acts that God might do through us, but the love that we have for Him — through which He acts without us ever realizing it. The devotional book, My Upmost For His Highest, even says (emphasis mine):

“…keep your relationship right with Him, then regardless of your circumstances or whoever you encounter each day, He will continue to pour “rivers of living water” through you ( John 7:38 ). And it is actually by His mercy that He does not let you know it.”

We would otherwise take pride in being used. That’s pretty humbling, for one who has always wanted to win an Oscar for Christ…

Permalink | September 2nd, 2003

One Response to “Where’s the Love?”

  1. Nick Says:
    February 2nd, 2004 at 10:07 pm

    Although I could probably bicker with you about various religious issues for eons, I just want to say thank you for displaying a rational, open minded approach in how you discuss faith, as opposed to the rabid fundamentalism so many people seem given to nowadays. (Well, maybe not even many people. It may just seem like that some days given my geographic location.)