4 Steps to Overcome the Real Love Problem in Your Life
We have a love problem, don’t we? Of course, this isn’t new.
We’ve always had a love problem. We say we love someone, but then we don’t know
how to express it. We say we love someone, but we choose not to express it. Or
if we are honest, maybe, we just don’t love that someone.
Where is this coming from? As the director of local outreach at a church, one of the questions I often ask myself is “why don’t
more people show interest in Christianity?” I read a blog recently from James
Emory White who partially answered this question. White said this: ‘A full 79%
of unchurched Americans agreed with this statement: "If a friend of mind
really values their faith, I don't mind them talking about it."[1]
Did you catch it? Don’t miss the key to the point: “If a friend of mine, really values their faith.” I read that
as someone who has an authentic faith. A faith that is not perfect, but real
and deep. It sounds like something that comes flows out of true love.
Today’s time in the Bible was spent in John 14 and Ezra 9
& 10. The words of Jesus in John 14 hit me as the problem for many today
who call themselves Christians. Jesus said:
“If you love me, obey my
commandments…Those who accept y commandments and obey them are the ones who
love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I love them
and reveal myself to each of them” (John 14:15, 21).
THE PROBLEM
If you love Jesus, you will obey His commandments. Wow. If
you value your faith, you will obey His commandments. You see, a great many
people don’t want to talk to us about our faith, because many of us don’t value
it. Many of us who call ourselves Christians, think, speak and act like those
who are not Christians.
If we are honest, we don’t love Jesus. We like Him. We like
some of His teachings. We value some of His humanitarian efforts, but do we
really love Him? If we did, we’d obey His commandments. Not just the ones that
sound good or feel good. No, all of them. The ones about marriage, money,
service, humility, enemies, and so on. The ones that God spoke through the
prophets and the apostles. Yep, even the ones on sex and sexuality, lying,
greed, anger, and so on. If we really love Him, we will obey His commands.
If we want to impact the lives of others, we must stop and
begin to love Jesus more. Love Him authentically. Love Him by obedience. People
want to be part of something that is real. Something that is authentic.
Something that is solid.
THE SOLUTION
On the same day of reading John 14, which revealed a serious
problem for us today, I read Ezra 9 & 10 which contained a solution to the
problem.
ACKNOWLEDGE “I
fell on my knees and stretched out my hand to the LORD my God” (Ezra 9:5). We need to acknowledge our sin. We have
not put Jesus first. We have forsaken our true love. We need to fall on our
knees and cry out to God.
CONFESS AND REPENT
“Make confession to the LORD God of your fathers and do His will” (Ezra 10:11).
We need to confess and repent. We
need to go beyond acknowledging our sin, we need to apologize to God and then
change our thinking that this way of living is right. No longer can we neglect
our true love. It’s time to “do His will” and obey His commandments.
COMMIT “They
pledged to put away their wives, and being guilty, they offered a ram of the
flock for their offense” (Ezra 10:19). We need to commit to obeying Jesus. We
need to commit no matter the cost to following God’s teaching for our lives. We
will be unpopular. AW Tozer said, “To be
right with God has often meant being wrong with men.” Commit to God and
commit to each other to follow Jesus in all circumstances.
REST IN HIS LOVE “For
we are slaves; yet in our bondage our God has not forsaken us but has extended loving-kindness
to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us reviving to raise up the
house of our God, to restore its ruins and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem”
(Ezra 9:9). Even in our sin, even in our lack of loving Jesus, God still loves
us. We can rest in His love. But God forbid, do we use that an excuse to sin or
ignore Him and His teaching. In it all, for the true follower of Christ, His
grace is sufficient.
We will never Him nor anyone else perfectly. God knows it.
But like anyone we really do love, we will continually be seeking them in
relationship and doing our best to respect them in all we say and do. Today,
let’s love Him with all our heart, soul, and mind. When we do, some will want
to be part of it too.
QUESTION: What prevents
you from loving Jesus like you should?
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