Love Has Everything To Do With It
It is natural for us to think about starting a new year off the right way. It would be crazy to expect that we could have a good year, if we do the things we know are wrong. Therefore, it just makes sense that we would plan to do the right things and hope for a great year.
The problem comes in doing what we know is right. The world, the flesh, and the devil are fighting against us. It is the aim of the devil to use the world system and the desires and drives of our flesh to keep us from doing the right things and to lead us to do the wrong things. He is very good at this, so most people fail to do what they know is right. They even get discouraged and quit trying at times. It can be a depressing battle.
The key is love. Love is the most powerful motivation. When we love someone, we will go overboard to do what they want us to do. We gladly do whatever we can do to please them. I have seen it over and over with parents and their children, as well as the love of spouses. People who are in love do not have to be required to do the right things. They do them on their own, no matter how hard they become. Therefore, if we love the Lord as we should, it will cure our problem with doing the right things. We will do them out of love for our Lord. They will not be a burden at all.
The last key about love is to remember that love is a choice. You don't just love out of feelings or automatically. You choose to love a person. We have every reason to love Jesus. He loves us so much, He even died for us. He is perfect. He has our best interests at heart. He wants to give us a wonderful life. All we have to do is decide to love Him back. In fact, we decide to love Him more than anyone or anything else. We please Him before we please everyone else. Then, we will do the things we know are right and have a great year.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Genesis 4-6.
The problem comes in doing what we know is right. The world, the flesh, and the devil are fighting against us. It is the aim of the devil to use the world system and the desires and drives of our flesh to keep us from doing the right things and to lead us to do the wrong things. He is very good at this, so most people fail to do what they know is right. They even get discouraged and quit trying at times. It can be a depressing battle.
The key is love. Love is the most powerful motivation. When we love someone, we will go overboard to do what they want us to do. We gladly do whatever we can do to please them. I have seen it over and over with parents and their children, as well as the love of spouses. People who are in love do not have to be required to do the right things. They do them on their own, no matter how hard they become. Therefore, if we love the Lord as we should, it will cure our problem with doing the right things. We will do them out of love for our Lord. They will not be a burden at all.
The last key about love is to remember that love is a choice. You don't just love out of feelings or automatically. You choose to love a person. We have every reason to love Jesus. He loves us so much, He even died for us. He is perfect. He has our best interests at heart. He wants to give us a wonderful life. All we have to do is decide to love Him back. In fact, we decide to love Him more than anyone or anything else. We please Him before we please everyone else. Then, we will do the things we know are right and have a great year.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Genesis 4-6.