"Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver."
2 Corinthians 9:7
I really like this. Attitude matters. As with anything else, we can start with a bad attitude. We can obey grudgingly, or listen to God even though we don't agree with him. In the end though, we have to learn to love what God loves... to understand why the things he wants are better than the less cool things that we want... in order to rejoice in the Lord and in his will. God's purpose isn't to torture us or make our lives hell. He wants us to be happy. But sometimes we have to learn to understand why he asks what he asks, or why it is the right thing first.
I think it is the same with learning anything. I know that it was okay if my students came back with the right answer or if they did enough to get by, but so much better when they learned to love the subject, and understand it on a level that you only can if you enjoy it. And the gospel is like that. The scriptures are. Everything is. The whole world is better when you love being here, and every person is more enjoyable when you love them. Work doesn't even feel like work when you love it. Sacrifice doesn't feel like sacrifice when you do it out of love. Everything God does he does out of love. He is the poster child for all that love is. And that is why he has joy in it.
Today, let's not be satisfied with forcing ourselves to obedience. Let's not do anything out of grudging obligation. Let's start learning why, and understand it better, and come to love what we are doing, in the church, outside the church, everywhere. Love the tasks, love the people... and let's get to know God better so he can not only explain the details and we can learn to love the lessons... but so that we can learn to love Him more too. Everything is easier and better when we're doing it out of love.
2 Corinthians 9:7
I really like this. Attitude matters. As with anything else, we can start with a bad attitude. We can obey grudgingly, or listen to God even though we don't agree with him. In the end though, we have to learn to love what God loves... to understand why the things he wants are better than the less cool things that we want... in order to rejoice in the Lord and in his will. God's purpose isn't to torture us or make our lives hell. He wants us to be happy. But sometimes we have to learn to understand why he asks what he asks, or why it is the right thing first.
I think it is the same with learning anything. I know that it was okay if my students came back with the right answer or if they did enough to get by, but so much better when they learned to love the subject, and understand it on a level that you only can if you enjoy it. And the gospel is like that. The scriptures are. Everything is. The whole world is better when you love being here, and every person is more enjoyable when you love them. Work doesn't even feel like work when you love it. Sacrifice doesn't feel like sacrifice when you do it out of love. Everything God does he does out of love. He is the poster child for all that love is. And that is why he has joy in it.
Today, let's not be satisfied with forcing ourselves to obedience. Let's not do anything out of grudging obligation. Let's start learning why, and understand it better, and come to love what we are doing, in the church, outside the church, everywhere. Love the tasks, love the people... and let's get to know God better so he can not only explain the details and we can learn to love the lessons... but so that we can learn to love Him more too. Everything is easier and better when we're doing it out of love.
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