2月11日
标 题： 爱生成顺服
经 节： 有了我的命令又遵守的，这人就是爱我的；爱我的必蒙我父爱他，我也要爱他，并且要向他显现。（约翰福音十四章21节）
遵守神的命令应该是心甘情愿的。当你开始挣扎，不能顺服神的时候，就是你的心已经转离神的指针。有些人宣称：“我爱神，但是我的生命有些地方很难顺服神。”这在灵性上根本是不可能的。如果我问你：“你爱神吗？”你可能很轻易地回答：“当然囉！”如果我问你：“你顺服神吗？”你是否也能立即回应肯定的答案？然而，我是在问你同一个问题呢！对神真纯的爱，会使人全心全意顺服神。如果你告诉配偶，有时候你爱他，有时候你得努力挣扎才能爱他，那么你的婚姻关系正濒临危机。同样地，我们竟然假设神满足于我们依情况而定的爱和部分的顺服。神才不呢！没有爱的顺服是拘泥于律法形式主义。为顺服而顺服，不过是完美主义罢了，只会让人愈发骄傲。许多基督徒相当自觉地在生活中操练自己，力求培养门徒训练，好能更顺服基督。属灵的门徒训练是会有帮助的，但这些训练永远不能替代你对神的爱。爱是能自制。神看的不只是你神圣的习性、道德的生活、教会的参与，祂洞察你真正的心之所在。你对神的敬拜是否变得空洞，只是例行公事罢了？你是否已经失去研读圣经的动机？你是否正经历属灵的低潮？你的祷告生活是否沦为仪式？这些都是你的心已经远离神的征兆。拾回你起初的爱心，爱是与神相交和事奉神的最大原动力。
Love
Brings Obedience
“He
who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he 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 )
Obedience to God’s commands comes from
your heart. When you begin struggling to obey God, that is a clear indication
that your heart has shifted away from Him. Some claim: “I love God, but I’m
having difficulty obeying Him in certain areas of my life.” That is a spiritual
impossibility. If I were to ask you, “Do you love God?” you might easily respond,
“Yes!” However, if I were to ask you, “Are you obeying God?” would you answer
yes as quickly? Yet I would be asking you the same question! Genuine love for
God leads to wholehearted obedience. If you told your spouse that you loved her
at certain times but that you struggled to love her at others, your
relationship would be in jeopardy. Yet we assume that God is satisfied with
occasional love or partial obedience. He is not.
Obedience without love is legalism.
Obedience for its own sake can be nothing more than perfectionism, which leads
to pride. Many conscientious Christians seek to cultivate discipline in their
lives to be more obedient to Christ. As helpful as spiritual disciplines can
be, they never can replace your love for God. Love is the discipline. God looks
beyond your godly habits, beyond your moral lifestyle, and beyond your church
involvement and focuses His penetrating gaze upon your heart.
Has your worship become empty and routine?
Have you lost your motivation to read God’s
Word? Are you experiencing spiritual lethargy? Is your prayer life reduced to a
ritual? These are symptoms of a heart that has shifted away from God. Return to
your first love. Love is the greatest
motivation for a relationship with God and for serving Him.
