Love God. THEN do what you want.

" Love God, then do what you want." I heard this somewhere once. Is this foolish advice or wise counsel? Whad'ya think? Why? Diane

23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.John 14:22-24 (New King James Version)If I love Him, I will, as a matter of course, do what He wants. He will make His home in me, and will lead me into all He wants me to do.Nice one, Diane! This should be a go-er!I just put your e-book about Entering God's Rest on my favourites. The River's flowing from your heart, that's for sure!Dom

" Love God, then do what you want." :-D 1John 5:2,3 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.Was this really a serious question? Wow, that's scary...

Was this really a serious question? Wow, that's scary...It is an actual quote (I don't know the source) - that I feel deserves our thoughts. Why is the question scary? Diane

I believe it was Saint Augustine, but I don't know what work of his it was in. Maybe "confessions" I'm not a big Augustine reader though.

I don't think this question is scary - I think it's essential. It's so easy to slip into legalism - and legalism brings a curse! NO THANK YOU.I think it's vital to have tender hearts toward the Lord in our experience of His Presence, and from that experience will flow an obedience that is born of LIFE not just our own effort. Jesus is the centre of our lives, not just the written Word. Of course His Word is perfect, but His Word expresses Him, and we have a relationship with Him, not the Bible. He brings light to our hearts through the Word, but those words can also be a tool for darkness.So it's not quite as simple as just quoting Jesus saying love for God is keeping His commandments - we need to know HOW. That's why He gave us the Apostle Paul and John - there was more to say....about the Law, the Holy Spirit and the nature of God's love for us, and ours for Him.I could talk about this for months and years, and never exhaust it. Lord give me revelation of what it means to love you, and how much You love me. Amen. Dom

I think this one is scarier you all ~ Will you lose your salvation if you don't ~That's just mischievous!!!!!!Dom

Why is the question " Love God, then do what you want." scary? I saw this Diane as a way to have Jesus and have it my own way too but the more I think about it, if I love Jesus, I will want His way (not my will but thy will be done). I will want whatever He wants because my life will not be separate from His. I will want to deny myself take up my cross and follow Jesus simply because I love Him.There's much more wisdom in this statement, then I initially saw. My apologies Diane. :-)

Great question Diane,We live in a cynical age and it is easy to read the question you posted with quotation marks around the word "Love"...as if we are winking at each other about a secret loophole for lawlessness. However if we take the statement literally and without irony it is rather brilliant I think. It is putting the horse before the cart so to speak. Perhaps it can even be used as a commentary on “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength; and love your neighbor as yourself.”So many scriptures point out the supremacy of loving God first in our hearts. Why? Because this is the supreme duty and requirement for salvation? No. I think such a conclusion seems like a rather stiff-necked response...instead loving God is the surrender of our wills, the trust of of our futures, and the santification or devotion of our lives for his pleasure and benifit. It is not to be a chore...in fact the words duty and law imply self-effort when in fact love can be quite spontaneous and unconscious.Regarding the pure impulse of love verses mere outward conforming to the 10 commandments I have always found it fascninating that Jesus told his desciples in the upper room "A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another." This was an incredibly important moment for the infant Church...Jesus was separating his people under a new commandment and one that I believe is vitally linked to the new birth according to the Spirit as opposed to the old man striving under the law.Put the horse in front of the cart, and the cart will fllow.MC

Sure, love God and do what you want. If you love God you will do what He wants.So, love God and do what you want, if doing what you want is what He wants. :-P

Sounds solid to me PreachParsly! :-)I can think up one exception: If one would change the definition of love to suit his/her own interrests/motives.[edit]Now I think of this, even though this quote would do no harm people could easiliy misunderstand it.[edit2]One could easily put his/her own interpretation on it that is either biblically or unbiblically. Personally I think its a bad idea to use this quote without any explanation.

When I hear the phrase "do what you want" I immediately think of our relativistic society and that whole moral wasteland. However, I guess this quote taken as a whole from a Christian perspective could fit in with the following...Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. (Psa 37:4)I believe the giving of the desires of the heart there refers not just to requests being granted but to the willingness that God gives us to do His will. In Christ,Ron

Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Isn't it intriguing how this scripture appears to us one way when we first look at it...but upon further reflection it completely inverts.First we notice that the desires of our hearts will be affected and influenced simply by 'delighting thyself also in the Lord.'But more subtlely, and perhaps more importantly, we notice that the emphasis is not so much on the object "desires of our hearts" but on the process "he shall give thee the desires..." In the end it's not so much about the desires we started out with...but the new desires he has given...placed in our hearts.And so the verse ends where it began. Jesus is really the deepest desire of our hearts.MC

WOW MC Bro... Just WOW... Amen, enough said.

Isn't it intriguing how this scripture appears to us one way when we first look at it...but upon further reflection it completely inverts.Most, I suspect, when they read scripture are seeing this: love God and do what you are OBLIGATED to do. Is God thrilled with that kind of life? Is that not the way the pharisees made choices?Is worship not the expression our deepest DESIRES? I'm not talking about stuff that happens in the church service. I'm talking about our entire lives.This thread topic sprang out of a discussion I'm having with Rahman about creative expression of art/music/writing etc. I believe that authentic creativity comes from our "want to" not an "aught to". Apply this to everything we do in life - and how do you think it would work? Diane

[edit]Now I think of this, even though this quote would do no harm people could easiliy misunderstand it.[edit2]One could easily put his/her own interpretation on it that is either biblically or unbiblically. Personally I think its a bad idea to use this quote without any explanation. Warrior4jah, Great point, I think this speaks to the origional post, best. There are a lot of very strong Christians posting great and thoughtful stuff here. But, consider how this would effect a new Christian or a person who is still deciding. I've heard variations of this statement taken to extremes. Love God, then do what you want. To a Christian it would mean the same as what all of the other post are saying, but to a someone else it could mean that as long as they think they love God, they can do what ever their heart desires (of the flesh) and everything will be groovy. To one who lacks a supportive body of faithful friends and teachers to help them better understand this statement, it could be dangerous and destructive. I pray that the Lord will send, to those who will consider this statement, faithful teachers like the brothers and sisters posting here. God Bless you all!Chris

oops.. sorry about the double post. I had a page loading problem. Commentator could you delete one for me. thanks Chris. p.s. can I delete my own post if this happens again?

I believe that authentic creativity comes from our "want to" not an "aught to"...Apply this to everything we do in life - and how do you think it would work? Hopefully I understand your direction here...I suppose we could consider J S Bach's example of both art and life. Here was a man whose life was not characterized by a desire for fame or stardom but instead by a deep, personal belief in the gospel of grace. In fact his drive to create a musico-theological art form might even seem mystical measured by modern acedemic protestantism. So when he could have been dishing out merely technically proficient music with the appropriate religous text, or seeking the patronage of kings by writing dazzling Baroque showpieces he instead created a body of worship music so profound in it's technical and spiritual expression that he altered the course of western music. I bring Bach up because he is an example of a Christian whose life’s priorities were organized along the great theme: Glorifying God. Today we are suspicious of achievement because we associate it with vanity but Bach’s "greatness" was not inspired by the hope of fame or fortune in his day. In all likelihood he was not counting on the average Christian at his church to understand the musical allegories he built into his compositions. Indeed, it is doubtful any of the churchgoers who first heard music like St. Matthews Passion really assimilated all they were hearing that day. To paraphrase a modern song title, Bach was writing music for “an audience of one.” Perhaps, of all of the gifts and genius Bach demonstrated, none was as important as his humble belief in excellence and hard work. He once told a student, "Just practice diligently, and it will go very well."Even at age 65, he didn’t seem to want to rest on his laurels. Not long after being hired as the high profile “Kapellmeister” of the court of Prince Leopold; he soon resigned because he found the regal environment distracting to him. He accepted a lowly position as cantor at a church in Leipzig, where he could continue creating worship music without fanfare from the world. Bach reminded me of the quote from “Chariots of Fire…”When I run I can feel God’s pleasure.” Bach said, "Music's only purpose should be the glory of God and the recreation of the human spirit."As he was dying from infirmity, his children were complaining that his church was already busy replacing him with the next music minister. He was forgotten for over a hundred years until Mendelssohn dusted off a Bach composition for a concert. Today Bach is accepted widely as the benchmark of supreme excellence for polyphony and counterpoint studies, whether you want to be a church organist or a jazz saxophonist. I believe his counterpoint was more then mere technical mastery…he was weaving the radical new tenants of Lutheran theology into not only the text of his cantatas, but also the construction of his music. (There is an interesting scholarly book called Analyzing Bach Cantatas that explores how Bach’s musicology was ultimately driven by his theology.)Bach was famous for signing his music scores with the epitaph “For the glory of God.” If I am a businessman, could I, in my heart, sign my business plan accordingly? Jonathan Edwards once challenged businessmen to manage their business affairs for the benelovence of others, and not for what he called "commercial justice." Strange words indeed! In whatever I do, could I “sign” it for the Glory of God? This is how I am trying to understand loving God in relation to how we think, create, and act in all areas of this life..."secular" or "Christian."MC