Love -- Motivator of the Repentant Heart

In my previous post I stated that fear is the motivation of the unrepentant heart. The opposite of fear is love. We fear that which we do not love. God desires for us to be engaged in a love relationship with Him. However, our love for Him cannot be merely an assent of the mind or a feeling of our emotions. It must be the desire of our hearts, an act of our will. Jesus said, "If you love me, you will obey what I command" (John 14:15).

A repentant heart is one that turns from going its own way to get in step with the way God is going; thus aligning its will with God's will. When the desires of my heart are in tune with God's heart then love flourishes.

Why would I align my will with God's? There are many reasons, but two important one's are:

1. When my will and God's will are in alignment I have nothing to fear. Alignment with God casts out fear since what I want and the things I do not want are in agreement with God.
2. I align my will with God's because He has already proven His love and His commitment to me. The Bible says, ". . . God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

God, in the person of Jesus Christ, has taken on the punishment for all our sins. Everyone has sinned (I will talk more about in sin in a later post), whether a "little, white lie" or a major wrongdoing like murder. In God's eyes all wrongdoing is equal--big or little--because He can allow no sin in heaven. Jesus took our sins and the punishment for our sins when He was put to death by crucifixion. He showed His love for us by taking our punishment.

I turn from going my own way, and submit my will to going God's way because I know He loves me and I trust that He knows my future and has my best interests at heart. "We love Him because He first loved us" (I John 4:19).