“WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO LOVE GOD?

When the Pharisees asked Jesus of Nazareth, “What is the greatest commandment in
the Law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” He added, “And a second is
like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” And then the clincher: “On these
two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Jesus’ reply, recorded in
Matthew 22.37-40, summarizes the entire Mosaic Law into two simple commands:
Love God & Love People. Jesus’ response was a common pharisaical conviction, and
he answered properly. His response has been popularized in the western church
where a fascination with love over law has triumphed. Many western churches have
as their mission statement “Loving God and Loving People.” But despite its
overwhelming popularity, Jesus’ response to the Pharisees’ question has been greatly
misunderstood.

It seems simple. Love God. Love Others. And it is simple. But throughout the ages,
an evolution within the thought of society has distorted Jesus’ meaning. Separated
from the Judaism of Jesus’ day by over 2000 years, western people approach Jesus’
response from a western perspective. And within the western lens, people mutilate
what Jesus actually meant. Let us not discredit Jesus: he answered correctly. What it
takes to please God is to simply love Him and to love other people. The issue isn’t
whether or not Jesus is correct—he is—but whether or not we are correct in our
interpretation of what he meant. I fear that the majority interpretation of Jesus’
words is skewed at best. What Jesus meant by love—and what western society,
including the church, means by love—are totally different.

Jesus summed up the entire Law in two statements: “Love God and love people.”
Let’s begin with the first commandment. This is the greatest commandment, and it
supersedes the second commandment of loving people. Many branches of
Christianity focus almost wholly upon loving other people in a semi-missional
context. By doing so, they are trumping love of God with love for people. Their
intentions are genuine. One cannot love God without loving people. But the result is
that loving people becomes, for some Christians, more important than loving God.
Yet Jesus made the first commandment love for God. And thus that is where we shall
begin with the question, “What does it mean to love God?”

Western society’s popular concept of love is rooted in feelings. But defining love by
one’s feelings is a concept foreign to the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. This
association of love with feelings emerged during the Middle Ages, seen most vividly
in the tales of heroic knights rescuing damsels in distress. Ever since, love in society’s
eyes exists on the foundation of positive and often euphoric feelings. And thus “love
for God” has become synonymous with “a positive, warm feeling towards God.”
However, as aforementioned, this association of love with feelings was foreign to the
Bible. In addition, the “feelings” a person has—such as joy, sorrow, elation, etc.—are
caused by fluctuating chemicals in the brain (such as serotonin and dopamine), and
these fluctuations are caused by internal (e.g. biochemical) or external (e.g. life
circumstances) stimuli. Thus interpreting “love of God” with “feelings” is erroneous.

Be that as it may, society still places emphasis upon love of God with one’s emotional
disposition towards Him. This is dangerous—and even disastrous—because it places
one’s status before God—as a lover or not—upon the way the person “feels” towards
Him. This is bad for two reasons. First, it makes one question his or her love for God
when there is, in reality, nothing to question. One can possess negative feelings
towards God (and by negative feelings I do not mean hatred, per say, but, for
example, disappointment) and still love Him in the truest sense. But with society’s
conception of love for God, the person who has less-than-positive feelings towards
Him is driven to ask, “Do I not love God since I do not possess positive feelings
towards Him?” The result is a questioning of one’s salvation and status before God
when the person’s salvation and status before God is in no way in question.
Secondly, it gives a false sense of security to those who may possess positive feelings
for God but who do not truly love Him. There are those who like Jesus and his
teachings, those who are fond of God, but who do not live a life of obedience. There
are those who exist within the church doors who may lead small groups, host Bible
studies, lead worship, and even preach from the pulpit but who do not live a life that
pleases God. These individuals, whether they christen themselves “Christians” or
not, do not really love God. But because they possess positive feelings towards God,
or at least towards their conception of God, they are convinced they really do love
him. Within the construct of society’s understanding of love for God, one can live a
life of disobedience before God and still have positive feelings for him—and may
even experience euphoria amidst worship—, and this person may be convinced he or
she loves God when, in reality, he or she does not. Such a person is an enemy of God
despite his or her ignorance and self-deception.

Love of God is not synonymous with positive feelings towards Him. So what does it
mean to “love God” if it doesn’t mean to have a positive emotional disposition
towards Him? In order to answer this question, one must ask the question, “With
what does the Bible associate love for God?”

Jesus’ response to the Pharisees, that the greatest commandment is to love God, was
not drawn out of a vacuum. It was not a clever response that the Pharisees had never
heard before. It came straight out of the Jewish Bible, from one of the books of the
Torah (“the Laws of Moses”). Deuteronomy 6.5 reads: “You shall love the LORD your
God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” This famous
decree is wedged between two exhortations to obedience to God’s commands (6.1-4
preceding it, and 6.6-9 following it). Throughout the Old Testament, the point is
implied that loving God is intimately connected to obeying God. Deut 11.1 reads,
“You shall therefore love the LORD your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his
rules, and his commandments always.” Joshua 22.5 states, “Only be very careful to
observe the commandments and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD
commanded you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways and to
keep to his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart
and with all your soul.” In the Old Testament, love of God is intimately connected to
obedience to God. For those who are not quite convinced, who still see a distinction
between loving God and obeying God, this intimate connection is not only implied
but directly stated in the New Testament.

In his first pastoral letter, St. John writes, “And by this we know that we have come
to know [Christ], if we keep his commandments. Whoever says ‘I know him’ but
does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever
keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that
we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in
which he walked.” He goes on to state the same in an even starker tone: “Everyone
who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You
know that [Christ] appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one
who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen
him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices
righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is
of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.” (3.4-8b) St. John isn’t
saying that only those who are morally perfect belong to God; he is using
exaggerated language to make the point that if a person has experienced no moral life
change, that person does not belong to God. In case the point hadn’t been quite
honed in, he says in 5.3a, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his
commandments.” To St. John, love of God is intrinsically connected to obeying his
commandments. In his second pastoral letter, St. John writes, “And this is love, that
we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have
heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.” (2 John 6) A few sentences
later, “Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ
[does not obey Christ], does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching [obeys
Christ] has both the Father and the Son.” (2 John 9)

St. John spoke not out of his personal opinions. He carried forth what he had been
told by Christ himself on the eve of his crucifixion. Jesus told the disciples,
“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he
who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to
him.” (John 14.21) A few verses later, he repeats this statement: “If anyone loves me,
he will keep my word, and my Father will love him… Whoever does not love me
does not keep my words…” (John 14.23-24) Later on in the discourse, Jesus says, “If
you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my
Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” (John 15.10). A few sentences later,
he says, “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” (John 15.14)

The New Testament conviction, as evidenced by the words of Jesus and St. John, is
that loving God is intimately connected to obeying him. A person may experience
negative feelings towards God, but if he or she is obeying him, then that person
loves him. A person may experience positive and euphoric feelings towards God, but
if he or she is not obeying him, then that person does not love him. The question is
begged, “So is loving God simply just obeying Him?” Yes. And no. Obedience
before God flows from a heart that is devoted to God. When a person is devoted to
God, that person will obey him. When a person is not devoted to God, that person
will not obey Him. Once more, the “feelings” a person has towards God does not
necessitate an equal correlation to that person’s devotion (love) towards God.
Obedience is what it looks like to love God on the pragmatic, or practical, level. On
the “metaphysical” level (a term which I use to speak of the level in which the heart
operates), one’s love for God is seen in his or her devotion to him. Obedience flows
out of a person’s devotion to God; if a person is devoted, that is evidenced in his or
her obedience.

Yet it may be the case that one obeys God but does not truly love him. This is seen
most often in strict, legalistic religious circles. The Pharisees are a shining example of
this. They professed to love God and were very strict in their (at least public)
obedience. But their hearts weren’t in it. They didn’t truly love him. And Jesus called
them out on this in Matthew 23, labeling them “blind guides,” “blind fools,” and
“whitewashed tombs.” Obedience is to flow from a heart devoted to God; but it can
also flow from a heart proud in its religious affiliations. The obedience that matters is
not proud obedience but humble obedience, an obedience coming from a heart
submissive, loyal, and devoted to God. A person who is obedient is obedient from
the heart ( either from a heart dispositioned towards God positively, i.e. in love; or
from a heart dispositioned not towards God but towards, for example, one’s own
religious pride). Disobedience, like obedience, comes from the heart; but while the
root of obedience can be either from a good heart towards God or a bad heart towards
God (i.e. a heart focused on the self), disobedience before God always comes from a
heart that is focused on the self rather than on God.

The obedience the scriptures praise and link to love of God is an obedience that
comes from devotion to God. We must ask ourselves, “What is my disposition—my
heart’s posture—towards God?” Devotion to God—which is, essentially, love for
God, and which I also refer to as commitment, loyalty, and allegiance to God—is the
appropriate and necessary disposition required for loving God. One’s devotion to
God is not tied to one’s feelings towards God. Many characters of the Old Testament
were devoted to God in the midst of negative feelings towards him. King David
suffered disappointment with God. Jeremiah experienced great anger and rage
towards God. Job remained devoted to God despite his confusion and
disappointment and fury towards him. Just as a husband can be dedicated to his wife
amidst not being able to stand her, so a person can be devoted to God amidst
negative feelings towards him. Devotion to God is a matter of the heart; after all,
didn’t Jesus say “Love the Lord your God with all your heart…”? The question, then,
is, “What does it mean to be devoted to God from the heart?” In order to answer that
question, the concept of the “heart” must be defined.

In biblical terminology, the “heart” of man—also known as the “spirit”— is the core
of the human person. It is where our actions and desires stem from. Jesus makes this
clear in Mark 7.20-21, where he says, “What comes out of a person is what defiles
him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality,
theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride,
foolishness.” A person’s actions are reflective of the status of his or her heart.
Contrary to popular belief, actions do not change who are but define who we are. It is
foolishness when a person says, “I was just being stupid when I did this or that, I’m
not really like that.” It is a popular excuse to shy away from guilt; when a person
does something he or she regrets or hates, it is soothing to believe that it was a fluke.
Yet all of our actions stem from the condition of our heart. Our actions reveal what is
going on in our hearts, in the core of who we are. It is the heart—the core of who we
are—that God looks at. It is the heart of man that matters to God. When Samuel went
out to anoint the future king of Israel, God told him, “Do not look on his appearance
or on the height of his stature… For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the
outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” The heart is from where we
make our decisions, from where we make our choices; it is the home of the will of
man. When I say that devotion is a matter of the heart, I mean, precisely, that
devotion is a matter of the will. True devotion flows from a heart that is truly,
genuinely, and willfully committed, loyal, and in allegiance with God. The question
—“What does it mean to be devoted to God from the heart?”—is answered: “It means
to make a wholehearted decision of the will to commit oneself entirely to God.”

Devotion often carries a religious distinction. In the ecclesiastical world, it refers to

religious observances of worship, or forms of prayer or worship that are employed
for special use. Devotion as I mean it here is a selfless, sacrificial dedication to God
and his cause. God says through the prophet Jeremiah, “You will seek me and find
me, when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jer 29.13) In Matthew 6.33, Jesus
commands his disciples, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness…”
This is the heart of devotion. To “seek” something means to make it your highest
priority, your goal, your aim. To “seek God” is to make him your highest priority,
goal, and aim. To “seek God’s kingdom” is, subsequently, to make God’s cause (his
kingdom) your cause in life. This is the heart of devotion: dedication to God and his
cause, his kingdom.

There is a great myth abounding in Christian circles that devotion to God is chiefly
manifested in certain ways. Most poignantly, it is believed by many that the more
devoted to God one is, the more radical (in the physical world) that person’s life will
be. While acknowledging that devotion to God will rearrange the attitudes,
characters, and daily affairs of a person, it is erroneous to buy into the belief that
one’s devotion to God can be adequately measured by his or her “call” in life. When
a person says, for example, that becoming a missionary to a foreign world is a sign of
great devotion to God, that person is making the assumption that if a person is truly
devoted to God, then that person will uproot, leave family members and friends, and
rush off into the great unknown: the deserts of northern Africa, the jungles of Peru,
the whitewashed snows of Russia. This is a common belief; when attending Bible
college, I met many students and leaders who believed exactly this. Employing logic
to this belief will ruin it: if only the truly devoted flee to foreign countries, or to the
inner cities of America’s most ghostly and ghastly places, then where is the man or
woman of God in the suburbs? The reality is that devotion to God will take on
multiple forms. God may indeed lead his devoted to foreign countries, or into the
inner cities; and he may indeed lead his devoted into the suburbs. This is one
example of many. Some say that the truly devoted live lives of poverty; then what do
we make of Gaius in Corinth, a rich man who hosted the entire Corinthian church in
his living room? Some say that the truly devoted embrace vocational ministries, such
as preaching, teaching, or leading worship; does this mean that the average-Joe
sitting in the church pew is not truly devoted to God? Some say that devotion to God
means forsaking a spouse; then what do we make of St. Peter, who was probably
married? What do we make of Priscilla and Aquila, St. Paul’s tent-making friends
and fellow workers in the gospel? What, then, do we make of Andronicus and Junia,
probably a married couple, designated as apostles in Romans 16? The scriptures
describe the devoted person as a person characterized by Christ-likeness, a person
who is devoted to God and his cause wherever and whenever they are. It must be
clarified that devotion to God is seen not chiefly in one’s social status (though one’s
interactions in the social world will be affected by devotion to God) but by the
person’s character and choices in life, wherever and whenever they are.

As stated, devotion to God is dedication to him and his cause. It is making God and
his kingdom the first and foremost priority in our lives. It is rearranging our lives—
everything from the internal (our hearts, minds, souls, and bodies) to the external
(our daily affairs, our social interactions, etc.)—in such a way that God and the
advancement of his kingdom is the chief priority of our lives. When a person is truly
devoted to God, that will be seen in his or her character (the person devoted to God,
the person in Christ, will be transformed by God’s Spirit to possess and cultivate the
attitudes, thoughts, and character of Christ Jesus) as well as in his or her decisions
(making decisions born not out of selfishness and greed but out of a concern for
God’s desires and his plans for humanity).

The devoted person, transformed inwardly and outwardly, will live a life of
obedience before God. Many people claim to be devoted to God but their behaviors
—in effect, their disobedience—show that such devotion is a sham. They may have
convinced themselves that they are truly devoted, but their behaviors negate this
claim. If a person is truly devoted to God, that person will obey God. When a person
thrives in continual disobedience, one could say that person has “half-hearted”
devotion to God (meaning they are not truly devoted) or that the person’s “heart just
isn’t in it” (again, meaning they are not truly devoted to God).

Obviously, the person who is devoted to God will not be perfect in obedience. Even
St. Paul, who lived a chiefly upright and moral life, confessed in his letter to the
Philippians, “Not that I… am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own.
Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting
what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal
for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 3.12-14) Even St. Paul
recognized that in his own life he still disobeyed at times, that he was in no way
perfect; but he strove for obedience out of a heart devoted to God. The person who is
devoted to God is not perfect in his or her obedience (if any were to make such a
claim, that person would be blasphemous; St. John said, in 1 John 1.8, “If we say we
have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”); but the person who is
truly devoted to God will live a life marked more by obedience than disobedience,
and the “scales” of disobedience/obedience will tip in favor of obedience as that
person grows not only in his or her devotion to God but also in his or her God-given
ability to obey God.

The question is begged, “How much devotion is necessary in order to truly love
God?” and that question may stem out of a sincere heart or from the kind of heart
that wants to get away with the most possible with the least amount of devotion.
Devotion to God is a life-changing, monumentous decision, and there is no room for
half-hearted efforts. Our hearts—the core of our wills—are to be in it all the way.
Much of western evangelism in the last hundred years has operated like this: make
the person experience an emotional trauma over his or her sin and then provide an
emotional elation in the gospel message in order to win them over to Christian
conversion. An example of this is the Hell Houses seen around Halloween; in such
places, churches make “haunted houses” that are really depictions of hell (usually
influenced more by Dante’s Inferno than the actual Bible); non-Christians are led
through these displays of terror and suffering and humiliation, bombarded with
messages of judgment and condemnation if they do not believe in Christ, and at the
end they reach a peaceful, tranquil room—a nice hiatus from the cruelty of the Hell
House—and presented with a simplified gospel message. They then are invited to
“accept Jesus as Savior” and to become Christians, thus escaping the miseries of Hell.
These Hell Houses are often quite successful; not so much in making converts to
Christ but in getting people to pray the “Sinner’s Prayer,” which really amounts to
nothing in God’s eyes, and then the people are shuffled out the door and told to try to
live better lives. Such evangelism—though it is less evangelism than it is scare-tactics
—doesn’t really bring people to the point of devoting themselves to God, and it is
our devotion, our commitment, our loyalty—our love—that God truly wants from us.
He wants us from our hearts, not from our minds seared with graphic images and
seeking self-preservation from the fires of Hell.

When it comes to evangelism, when it comes to our own lives, we must “count the
cost” of what it means to be devoted to God. We must look at it square in the eyes
and see that such devotion will not only be difficult at times (especially at first) but
that it will shake to the foundations every aspect of our lives. It will transform, by
necessity, our hearts, our minds, our souls, our bodies, our social spheres. It will
transform the decisions we make. It will transform everything in our lives. Being a
Christian is about being devoted to God; if one is not devoted, then that person is not
a Christian. Jesus himself said to those contemplating whether or not to follow him,
“For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the
cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a
foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This
man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter
another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten
thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not,
while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of
peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be
my disciple.” (Luke 14.28-33) Jesus is essentially saying, “Don’t become my disciple
—a ‘Christian’—half-heartedly. Think about it. Know what it means. Know what it’ll
take. Know what is required of you. And then, if you’re up to it, make the decision to
be my disciple, to be a Christian.” When it comes to devotion to God, we must not
leap blindly into it. We must think about it, understand what it means, understand
what it’ll take, understand what will be required of us. Jesus continues, “Salt is good,
but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either
for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away.” (14.34-35a) Jesus told the
people not to commit to him unless they were really sure that they wanted to—unless
their hearts were really in it—and he then said, applying the concept of salt losing its
saltiness, that those who half-heartedly follow him count for nothing and are
“useless” and to be “thrown away.” In Revelation Jesus told the angel of the church
of Laodicea to tell the church there, “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot.
Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither
hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” (Rev 3.15-16) The point is made clear:
if one is not willing to be truly devoted to God, then that person might as well not
even try. Devotion to God is a matter of the heart, and if the heart does not desire
devotion to God, any behavioral effort to be so will falter (behaviors do not change
the heart; the heart produces behaviors). It is better to wear no pretense of being a
devotee of God than to call oneself such and, in reality, not be devoted. Of course, as
already mentioned, our devotion to God will not be perfect at first. We will wrestle
with other allegiances and struggle with obedience; but if we are truly devoted, God
will give us His Spirit, and His Spirit will cleanse us of those other allegiances and
transform us inwardly so that obedience becomes easy and even delightful. Do not
assume that your devotion must be perfect right off the bat; such an assumption is
ludicrous; but do not assume, likewise, that devotion to God will leave you
unchanged. If the devotion is sincere, change will, without fault and exception,
happen.

We must ask ourselves, when asking, “Do we love God?”, “Where does our devotion
lie?” To whom or what, if not God, are we devoted? To whom or what, if not God, do
we put our allegiance? Some are devoted to their dreams of success, their desire for
wealth, or the fulfillment of their sensuality; some are committed to the possession of
a nice car or a nice house with a white picket fence; some are devoted to having a
spouse and raising a family. Some dreams are less toxic than others; some may even
be, seemingly, honorable. But even the most noble dreams and desires, the most
honorable allegiances, arise out of our thirst for glory, power, and self-fulfillment.
Such dreams, commitments, loyalties and allegiances are rooted in what St. John calls
“the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes, and pride in possessions” which
come “not from [God]” (1 John 2.16). Our decisions, choices, and preoccupations in
word, thought, and deed illuminate where our devotions lie. All dreams not of God,
no matter how “honorable” or “noble” they may seem, are derived out of the
selfishness and greed of man, and they lead to shattered and ruined lives. Devotion
to God means making God and his kingdom—not our own selfish wants and desires
—the priority of our lives. And it is precisely this kind of selfless, God-focused,
kingdom-focused life that provides joy, peace, and a transformed life into more and
more Christ-likeness.

We must examine our lives and ask ourselves, “Am I truly devoted to God? Or am I
devoted to myself and my own selfish wants and desires?” The caricature sketch of
our lives, drawn by our choices and decisions and preoccupations, will tell us
whether we are devoted to God or to something else. If a person is obsessed with
romantic love, then that person is devoted to finding romantic love more-so than he
or she is devoted to God. If a person constantly thinks of becoming a famous
musician and spends his or her time practicing the guitar and writing and rewriting
songs, then that person is more devoted to his or her own fame and success than to
God. A person may stand in the pulpit or be a missionary in a foreign world; a
person may go to church every Sunday and lead Bible studies; a person may work in
the inner city and suffer with the homeless; but if that person does not make God and
his kingdom the priority of his or her life, then that person is not truly devoted to
God. It is possible for a person to convince himself that he is devoted to God; but if
that person’s choices, decisions, and preoccupations are not arranged in such a
manner making God and His kingdom the priority, that person has fooled himself
into believing he is devoted to something that he is not really devoted to. Simply put,
in answering the question of where our devotion lies, we need only look at what is
most important to us; that which is most important to us is that to which we are
devoted. Everyone is devoted to something; most are devoted to themselves in
whatever manner that manifests; but devotion to God means devotion to something
outside ourselves, something greater than ourselves, something more important than
our own selfish wants, needs, and desires; it is devotion to God and his kingdom over
everything else.

We must examine our hearts and lives to see if we truly love God or ourselves. Our
choices, decisions, and preoccupations reveal whether we are devoted to ourselves or
to God. Such an examination forces a person to face the reality of his or her devotion,
removing any blinders that may be present and seeing clearly whether or not he or
she is devoted to God. If a person examines his or her life and finds that he or she is
not really devoted to God but to him/herself—that he or she loves not primarily God
but him/herself—then what is that person to do? Such a person must make a
conscious, genuine decision to either love God or to not love God (i.e. to love
him/herself). The person must be honest with themselves and with God. There is no
room for half-hearted devotion. If the person decides, genuinely, from his or heart, to
devote themselves to God, he or she must commit themselves to God in submission
to him, repenting of all former devotions.

The life of the person who loves God—who is devoted to Him—is not a perfect life.
We must not become perfect in our devotion in order for God to accept us; but in our
core, in our hearts, we must desire devotion to God and pursue that in grace and
mercy. In the beginning the person will struggle against former allegiances to other
persons or things, especially allegiances to the self. The person will struggle in
obedience. But the person will also be indwelt by God’s Spirit, and the Spirit will
transform the person’s heart, mind, soul, and social interactions, and the person’s
devotion to God and the manifest obedience will grow stronger and fuller and richer.

A life of loving the self is a life marked by despair, futility, and hopelessness.
Pursuing a life of loving the self leads to ruined and shattered lives. But a life of
loving God—a life of forsaking the interests of the self in devotion to God—is a life
that Jesus calls “the abundant life” in John 10.10. In contrast to the wasteland created
by loving the self, loving God paints a beautiful portrait of life filled with purpose
and hope; it is a life marked most poignantly not by sorrow but by joy and peace. It
is a life of interaction with God’s Spirit and internal and external transformation into
a creature that reflects the glory and beauty of God.