How's Your Spirtual Love Life, Part One: Great Lovers

How’s Your Spiritual Love Life?[i]
Part One: Great Lovers

Why do we do what we do? What motivates us? Why do we love God or fail to love God? The biblical answers to these questions might surprise you. Join us on a journey of spiritual discovery in our new blog series on How’s Your Spiritual Love Life?

Learn to Be a Great Lover

Often I’ve been tempted to market the counseling program I chair with the hook, Learn to be a great lover! but I’ve always had second thoughts. Too much possibility for misinterpretation. Frequently I’ve been tempted to start a first counseling session with the question, How’s your love life? I never have. Might be misinterpreted.

How’s your love life? Are you a great lover? Want to learn to be one? Keep reading.

Post-modern Christianity careens between the two extremes of fluffy, surface experientialism, and cold, aloof scholasticism. Biblical Christianity joins head and heart. We need a biblical theology that teaches us how to relate.

Changeless Truth for Changing Times

John Calvin, in his classic work, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, explains that love is fundamentally what moves us. “God begins his good work in us, therefore, by arousing love and desire and zeal for righteousness in our hearts; or, to speak more correctly, by bending, forming, and directing our hearts to righteousness.”

And Augustine, in his now famous quote, notes of God, “Thou movest us to delight in praising Thee; for Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in Thee.”

Great Lovers Wanted

The Trinity marvelously fashioned us to reflect God, relate like God, representatively rule for God, and rest in God. God created us with the capacities to relate. He designed us to love Him with our entire being—worshipping Him as we enjoy and exalt Him. By creation, we are spiritual beings who worship, and, therefore, long to exalt, enjoy, and entrust ourselves to God.

So, how’s your love life? Could your relationship with God use some biblical truth and some resurrection power multipliers? Then come back tomorrow as we share relevant biblical principles for loving God passionately. Until then, prayerfully ponder:

*What do I value?
*What do I pursue?
*What do I treasure?

[i]Developed from materials originally published in: Kellemen, Bob. Soul Physicians: A Theology of Soul Care and Spiritual Direction. Winona Lake, IN: BMH Books, 2007.

The Backside of God

The “Backside” of God (Exodus 33:18-34:9)

In Exodus 33:18-34:9, God shows Moses His “backside.” While people often debate the meaning of this, the text makes it clear. “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.”

The back side of God is His goodness.

Biblical theologian Bob Deffinbaugh notes that: “Here, the emphasis of ‘goodness’ falls not on the things which God gives, but on the goodness and generosity of God as the giver of good things.”

His interpretation is reminiscent of Hebrews 11:6 where we are told that when we come to God we must believe that He is, and that He is a generous Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Here’s my questions for us. It would be interesting, informative, and encouraging to share responses with one another.

1. When have you seen the backside of God?

2. On this Thanksgiving weekend, do we have spiritual eyes to detect the backside of God—His goodness?

3. Do we have faith eyes to see the generous, gracious goodness of God?

4. How is God showing you His goodness these days?

5. What signs of God’s goodness is He sending into your life?

6. Are we seeking only the good gifts from God, or are we seeking to know the good God?

7. How is God making you aware of how good He is?