Monday, June 30, 2014

I Am Willing To Love The Lord, But Why Can I Not Bring About Affections?

Hello!
I know it has been a long time since I blogged. This is just a short translation from a Q & A video between my pastor and a sister. A friend asked for the translation, so I might as well put it here too. Because who knows, someone out there might have the same question in their minds. The translation may not be that accurate. But better than nothing for those who can't understand Chinese at all. 


Pastor: What do you think? Do you think love is from affections/ feelings?
Sister: I am not sure. When we talk about love, normally we want to feel it and if I am lukewarm towards God , I feel that I don’t love God.
Pastor: 
So this is the problem I want to solve here. We need to first ask ourselves, where does love comes from? And how do I know how much I love God?
Most of the time, we judge how much we love God through our feelings or emotions. But this is wrong.
Even though God gave us feelings but love does not come from there because feelings change easily.
God says I am the Truth and the Way. So first, I must know God. Through knowing Him, I develop a heart that loves Him.
If people were to ask me, ‘ Do you love your wife?’. I will say, of course I love my wife. But how do I know?
Because I know her and I formed a relationship from there. It’s not formed through emotions or feelings. When I live with my wife, sometimes I will feel angry at her, disappointed or no feelings at all. But I won’t give up my marriage just because I have such feelings because I know her. If she’s in danger, I will definitely protect her till the end. And this is love. And it is the same with our relationship with God.

It is love through knowing. My heart towards God is not always passionate and zealous but I will definitely follow Him till the end. Sometimes, when I hear certain things from God, I may not be able to accept or submit immediately, but I will struggle then I will submit.
There was a parable about a father who has a vineyard and 2 sons. He told his 2 sons to work in the vineyard. The first son said I will go, without hesitation and with full passion. But in the end, he didn’t go. The second son said, I will not go. But in the end, he went.  We can see through this, the second son really loves and obedient to his father.  Maybe, when he first heard the instruction from his father, he was feeling bored, tired, couldn’t find strength to do it. And his reaction shows rejection. But the heart that loves his father in him  makes him struggle inwardly for a while and he eventually did what he was told.
When our spirit continues to know God with foundation despite being in sufferings or in our weaknesses  and we begin to know Him more then love grows naturally. We will have the hunger for Him and a heart that is willing to follow Him.
This is a process through knowing, sufferings and repeatedly submitting to Him. Then Love is formed. 


This is the link to the full Q&A mp; A videos. And of course, it is in Chinese. 
http://www.lifechurchmissions.com/AskPastor.aspx

1 comment:

Daniel Foo said...

Well said!