The Quest for Love: Part II

How do we love God?

Go to church? Pray? Spend time in devotions? Tithe? Help others? Spread the Gospel?

These are all things that make us love God, right?

Wrong.

After my shocking revelations concerning my lack of love for the Father, I have spent a great deal of time trying to figure out how to love God more. Like the main character of Ecclesiastes, I tried out a bunch of methods. Here's some of my ideas...

Force myself to forget about my idols and focus on Him...

Find some inspiring verses and quotes....

Spend loads of time in Bible study....

These are all great things, but not one of them caused me to love God more. The fact of the matter is that no matter how hard I try, I can't just love God more. There is no equation for easy fix for God's love.

We need God to help us love God. In other words, the only plausible way for me to truly love the Father is for Him to inspire that love in me. God promises that all we
have to do is ask, and He will answer.

Put in another way, my sinful nature prevents me from loving God in the way He intended. My sinful nature encourages my love for my idols. I can't fight that nature, but God can help me with it.

By laying my burden at His feet, and asking Him to help me love Him, I'll get there.

The process won't be easy. God will bend and break me to get me to where He needs me. He'll take away that which I value most. He'll force me to trust Him. But He'll love me. God has shown me what I need to do. He's shown me that I can't really do anything but ask for His help. He's shown me the process.

Thankfully, God hasn't given up on me. He loves me enough to let me take this journey instead of just giving me the solution. He's answered my prayer by showing me the way.

The quest continues...

The Quest for Love: Part I

Why are you a Christian?

Seriously, many of us have been asked this question before, but take a minute to seriously examine your faith, more importantly the reasoning behind your faith. Why do you believe in God? Why do you serve God? Why do you love God?

Do you love Him? Seriously love Him?

Stop reading and answer this question for yourself.

Recent events in my life have forced me to stop and take a gander at myself. A long gander (not a goose). Not only myself, but my relationship with the Father.

I realized that I don't have an answer to this question. I believe in God because I grew up "Christian." I was afraid to leave the faith because of what my family might say. I "believed" in God because I was afraid of the alternative of eternal damnation. I followed Him because I was afraid of what He would do to me if I didn't. I don't even know if I actually loved God.

Things haven't changed.

This is a seriously disturbing truth. I don't know if I love God.

For 22 years, I have investigated this being known as YAWEH
For 7 years, I have worked as a camp counselor supposedly leading kids to Christ.
For 8 years, I have been involved with leading worship
For 6 of those years, I have lead other people on a worship team.
For 4 years, I have devoted my life to becoming a youth pastor.

Yet after all that, I still don't know that I love the Father. Sure I'd like to tell myself I do and that my struggle with this fact points to some sort of love for Him, but my life says differently. During the average day, I think about God perhaps 2-3 times per hour. Unless that hour is filled with climbing, going out with friends, or a movie. Compare that to a crush on a girl....I focus way more on pleasing her than God, and that's not even love.

So what am I doing then?

Francis Chan says; "God doesn't just want us to have good theology; He wants us to know and love Him." I have the theology and I know all the "Christian" answers....but that's missing the point.

The point is love...and I don't have it.

Thus begins my quest for love.