Pleasing God, Making Disciples of Jesus Christ

Oh How He Loves Us

Ephesians 1:4b-8 – In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved.  In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight.

THEME OF THE DAY: OH HOW HE LOVES US.  If we were sitting together over a cup of coffee and I asked you this question “What is the greatest motivator that moves you to fight against sin, pursue holiness, be diligent in the Word, fervent in prayer, faithful to church week in and week out, and daily give it your all to follow Christ, what would you tell me?

A lot of Christians may answer that question with words like, “I want to please God” or “His glory; living for His glory motivates me.”  Maybe another answer might be, “To show Him my love for Him.  After all, obedience is the way I express my love for the Lord.”   All those would be correct answers, but I don’t believe they are the best answers.  What are common in the three answers I gave as possibilities?  They each begin with us; what we will do or not do.  Take a moment and think about how often, even subtly, we discuss things of the Lord such as following Him and it focuses on us.  Even in prayer.  How much is our praying me-centered over others-centered?  And what about service for the Lord?  Is it first based on our availability instead of His calling?  That is the very power of remaining sin in us.  It keeps trying to push the “I”, “me”, and “mine” to front our walk with the Lord.  Not always in a selfish or self-serving way as in the case of what we are discussing today.  More often than not, when we talk of the Christian life with all its privileges and responsibilities, we begin with what we are going to do instead of focusing on God and what He has already done and is doing in our lives.  It is important we remember all obedience and living the Christian life is to be lived by faith in what God has done and promises to do in and through us.  We never start with ourselves in anything of the Christian life.

So, what is the best answer to my question of motivation in all we do in the Christian life?  The love of God for us.  It is His love for us that will sustain all obedience; put joy in all obedience; build a life of faithful obedience; produce sacrificial obedience, and most importantly will keep us fighting and defeating the very thing counter to His love – sin.  We simply will not fight sin, put sin to death, each and every day unless motivated and controlled by Christ’s love.  It is when we remember, feel, and walk in His love that we see sin right and wage all-out war against it.  Unless Christ’s love is real and personal, we will not fight sin diligently.  We will compromise in our spiritual life.  Oh, we may not give into overt sin, but without the love of Christ enabling us to see sin right, we will “cut corners” on our obedience. His love will be replaced by self-love and these will be the results.  We will miss church for worldly things.  We will neglect the Bible and prayer.  Our passion for the lost will cool.  The desire for holiness will be absent. Sin will become tolerated in some shape and form.  Again, not in a gross and heinous way, but in a real way in allowing attitudes and conduct to be driven by self-interests instead of Christ’s interests.  And when self-love overrides His love as the controlling agent in our lives, we will grow insensitive, even blind, to the deception and power of sin.  We will no longer hate and fight against it for what it truly is – holy treason against heaven and the invader of our souls.

Yes, there are multiple good reasons to live the Christian life, but the best one, the most sustaining one, is not what we do, but what God has done in His love for us.  Meditate long and deep on His love and watch how our lives will be lived with more joy, power, and resolve to fight all sin, all the time.

PRAYER: “Lord, help me fight sin, not for its consequences to me, but because it breaks Your heart.”

QUOTE: “The highest motive to fight against sin is remembering the cost God paid to free us from sin.”