Worshipful Affection

Worshipful Affection

God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Romans 5:5

IN WORD There’s a huge difference between knowing God as an obligation and loving Him as a companion. Though He is Lord, He doesn’t mean to “lord” it over us, demanding obsessive obedience. He much prefers the kind of obedience that comes from affection and trust. As children who are enamored of their father, we are to love Him not with compulsion but with joy. Not to do so hardly fulfills the command to love Him.

But for many of us, that’s a problem. We love God with a sterile sense of duty rather than with an overflowing passion. Our minds know the right thing to do, and in our best moments, we do them. But if our hearts are not in it? Well, we can love Him anyway, and we should. But it isn’t the best kind of love. He offers us a better way. Duty doesn’t connect us with His heart nearly as much as affectionate trust that what He has told us to do is good.

How can fickle hearts like ours love Him that way? How can our apathetic condition be transformed into an intimate, joyful love? There’s only one way. God offers to pour His love into our hearts. As Paul testifies, we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God because God has granted us the pleasure of doing so. Whatever hope we have in God, even when it comes through suffering and perseverance (vv. 3-4), does not disappoint. Why? Because it comes from God. He’s the source of our love.

IN DEED If you’ve ever been frustrated at your level of love, welcome to the human race. Our hearts are hard and are not softened easily. But there’s hope: We aren’t called to generate more love. We’re told that love comes from the Spirit at work in us. The fact that love for God doesn’t come naturally doesn’t matter. We have a supernatural source.

If you want to love God more, try this: Ask Him to pour out His love in your heart. Test Him and see. Such prayers never remain unanswered for long.

The Spirit of God first imparts love.

—D. L. MOODY