Jesus said that the first and greatest commandment is, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all they soul, and with all thy mind.” It begs the question, what does it mean to love God? In some way, I think we all intuitively know the answer to this question, but there are still a few things to be said.
If you search the Bible for passages related to the love of God, you'll quickly notice a pattern. Our love of God is intimately tied to our obedience and service to Him (Joshua 22:5, Heb. 6:10, 1 John 2:5, 5:2). This is not merely talking about staying away from sin, but also discipling others, helping the needy, preaching the gospel, etc. If you look at Heb. 6:10 it describes ministering to brothers and sisters as a “labor of love toward God”. This is how it should be. Our love for God provokes us to serve Him, to love those that He loves, and to act as his hands and feet wherever He sends us.
But then, how do we grow in love for God? What happens when we just don't feel it? Do we go off and listen to some emotionally manipulative 'worship' songs? Is that how we stir our hearts up for the Lord? I think the answer lies in an examination of the deepest Earthly love – marriage. In Scripture, we see that marriage is intended to be a picture of our love for God and His love for us. It makes sense then that this picture can help us understand something of how we develop our love for God. Let me get practical. Men, what do you do when you wake up and you don't really “feel it” in your marriage anymore? Or what about when you and your wife argue about something and you're frustrated? Sometimes your heart just isn't into it, and in those times more than ever it's important for your head to lead your heart. So, you spend time with your wife, you watch a movie, you play a game, whatever it is that you do. You determine to love her, to be kind to her, and to serve her. Then a funny thing happens, your heart comes around again and you want to do those things. Not only that, you once again love your wife with your whole being.
Our love for God works in a similar way. You can't just manipulate your emotions into a lasting kind of love. Instead, you draw close to God by doing the thing you know that He'd like for you to do. You pray, read Scripture, serve others, etc. Especially when you don't want to. If you determine in your mind to love God and serve Him, it won't take long for your heart to come around.
The real danger that I see is when people let their emotions run them, instead of the other way around. It's as dangerous to your relationship with God as it is to your marriage. In marriage, this can lead to an unhappy home, unfaithfulness, or divorce. Spiritually, it can cause you to be “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine”, or to be firmly rooted in a place that you shouldn't be just because it feels good.
In conclusion, both the head and the heart are necessary for loving God, but the heart must not be the one to lead. Our love for God is not entirely different from other relationships and is especially similar to the love between a husband and wife. Finally, service and obedience are fantastic ways to draw closer to the Lord.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Things Necessary for Spiritual Growth
The life of a Christian is one of constant growth and learning as we strive to be more like the Lord Jesus. While this list may sound rudimentary, I firmly believe that many of the problems in churches and individuals could be avoided if people had a firm Biblical foundation. Also, there are far too many old men who should be mature believers, but they still haven't grasped these basics. So, while this list is certainly intended to help new Christians, the principles that I'll be laying out will be of great benefit to anyone.
Reading Scripture / Doctrine
It shouldn't be a surprise that this is top of the list. The Bible is our source of knowledge. Through it, we know what the Lord expects of us, how to please him, and what He is like. Read it like your life depends on it. Pick out key passages and set them to memory. It's worthwhile to stress the importance of getting all of your doctrine straight from the Bible. That means sermons, commentaries, and books are all secondary. I recommend that new believers make every effort to minimize intake of these secondary sources and maximize their Bible reading. Basically, it's much better to rely on the Holy Spirit and learn the Bible at your own pace than to ingest a lot of teaching that may have errors mixed in. It's fine to read outside writings, but you should build up your Biblical discernment first.
There is also an issue of priority for older Christians. I've seen many who claim the Bible as our authority and will affirm that all doctrine should come from the Bible exclusively. Yet, when you press them to discuss an issue, they can only give opinions and quote things they've heard, with no reference to the Bible. This should not be. It is evidence that commentaries, preachers, etc. are being given higher priority than the Bible.
Fellowship
The life of a Christian is constantly full of battles against sin, the world, laziness, and all manner of things. It's not the kind of thing that a man can face alone for very long. This is one of the reasons that the Lord set up the church – that we may love, encourage, exhort, and rebuke one another. To be blunt, you're going to have to work really hard to find good fellowship these days. Most churches are designed for members to simply show up and listen to a sermon. Fellowship dinners and potlucks tend to be simple social gatherings. It's not real fellowship to merely talk about sports. There should be some level of discussing Scripture, sharing burdens, rejoicing in victories, and provoking to good works. It's not enough to be a community, a church must be a Christian community – with every aspect of community life saturated with and informed by Christ and Scripture.
Holiness
If you are truly a Christian, you have been born again, and now have a new heart with new desires, so much so that you are rightly considered a new person (2 Cor. 5:17). Yet, practical holiness is still something that you'll need to strive for. Sin can quickly stunt your growth and cloud your mind, and can quickly make you useless in your service to the Lord. Don't get me wrong, sin can and will be forgiven if you repent, but it also has consequences, even for Christians.
Service
It's impossible to be truly conformed to the image of Christ, having his heart and mind, by merely learning doctrine and being as holy as you can. Jesus had a great focus on others, Christian and non-Christian alike. Likewise, a Christian who wishes to grow to maturity must also have a love for preaching the gospel to the lost and discipling others. Discipleship often happens naturally if fellowship is done right. The Biblical pattern is for older men to teach the younger and likewise the older women to teach young women. Due to the rarity of real maturity, it may be difficult to find an older man to disciple you. Do your best. Remember that no matter what, you have the Holy Spirit and the Lord to guide you.
Preaching the gospel to the lost is a vital part of the Christian life. If you never share the gospel with the lost, you'll never weep for souls in prayer, you'll never understand the struggles of your brothers who are obedient to the great commission, and you'll never have any stories to share. In short, being active in the Lord's work will greatly help you to keep your thoughts and passions aligned with the Lord.
Prayer
Prayer in itself will help keep your heart in tune with the Lord, but don't forget to pray specifically for growth. Ask the Lord to reveal your sin to you, to give you wisdom and understanding of Scripture, to give you opportunity to serve, etc. Pray that you may be more like Christ., but if you pray for growth, don't whine when you are tested and purged.
In the end, whether you are a young or mature Christian, living a life pleasing to God really isn't that complicated. It largely comes down to staying humble, not becoming lazy, and caring for others. Examine your life in light of these things. Figure out your weakness and determine to remove it. As with most things, you'll never stop learning and growing, so just keep at it and stay close to the Lord.
Reading Scripture / Doctrine
It shouldn't be a surprise that this is top of the list. The Bible is our source of knowledge. Through it, we know what the Lord expects of us, how to please him, and what He is like. Read it like your life depends on it. Pick out key passages and set them to memory. It's worthwhile to stress the importance of getting all of your doctrine straight from the Bible. That means sermons, commentaries, and books are all secondary. I recommend that new believers make every effort to minimize intake of these secondary sources and maximize their Bible reading. Basically, it's much better to rely on the Holy Spirit and learn the Bible at your own pace than to ingest a lot of teaching that may have errors mixed in. It's fine to read outside writings, but you should build up your Biblical discernment first.
There is also an issue of priority for older Christians. I've seen many who claim the Bible as our authority and will affirm that all doctrine should come from the Bible exclusively. Yet, when you press them to discuss an issue, they can only give opinions and quote things they've heard, with no reference to the Bible. This should not be. It is evidence that commentaries, preachers, etc. are being given higher priority than the Bible.
Fellowship
The life of a Christian is constantly full of battles against sin, the world, laziness, and all manner of things. It's not the kind of thing that a man can face alone for very long. This is one of the reasons that the Lord set up the church – that we may love, encourage, exhort, and rebuke one another. To be blunt, you're going to have to work really hard to find good fellowship these days. Most churches are designed for members to simply show up and listen to a sermon. Fellowship dinners and potlucks tend to be simple social gatherings. It's not real fellowship to merely talk about sports. There should be some level of discussing Scripture, sharing burdens, rejoicing in victories, and provoking to good works. It's not enough to be a community, a church must be a Christian community – with every aspect of community life saturated with and informed by Christ and Scripture.
Holiness
If you are truly a Christian, you have been born again, and now have a new heart with new desires, so much so that you are rightly considered a new person (2 Cor. 5:17). Yet, practical holiness is still something that you'll need to strive for. Sin can quickly stunt your growth and cloud your mind, and can quickly make you useless in your service to the Lord. Don't get me wrong, sin can and will be forgiven if you repent, but it also has consequences, even for Christians.
Service
It's impossible to be truly conformed to the image of Christ, having his heart and mind, by merely learning doctrine and being as holy as you can. Jesus had a great focus on others, Christian and non-Christian alike. Likewise, a Christian who wishes to grow to maturity must also have a love for preaching the gospel to the lost and discipling others. Discipleship often happens naturally if fellowship is done right. The Biblical pattern is for older men to teach the younger and likewise the older women to teach young women. Due to the rarity of real maturity, it may be difficult to find an older man to disciple you. Do your best. Remember that no matter what, you have the Holy Spirit and the Lord to guide you.
Preaching the gospel to the lost is a vital part of the Christian life. If you never share the gospel with the lost, you'll never weep for souls in prayer, you'll never understand the struggles of your brothers who are obedient to the great commission, and you'll never have any stories to share. In short, being active in the Lord's work will greatly help you to keep your thoughts and passions aligned with the Lord.
Prayer
Prayer in itself will help keep your heart in tune with the Lord, but don't forget to pray specifically for growth. Ask the Lord to reveal your sin to you, to give you wisdom and understanding of Scripture, to give you opportunity to serve, etc. Pray that you may be more like Christ., but if you pray for growth, don't whine when you are tested and purged.
In the end, whether you are a young or mature Christian, living a life pleasing to God really isn't that complicated. It largely comes down to staying humble, not becoming lazy, and caring for others. Examine your life in light of these things. Figure out your weakness and determine to remove it. As with most things, you'll never stop learning and growing, so just keep at it and stay close to the Lord.
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