Wanting To Love God IS Loving God

Psalm 105:4 sounds simple at first:

“Seek Yahweh and his strength. Seek his face forever more.”

But when you start to break it down, that verse cuts straight to the beating heart of the gospel.

Your love for God grows over time as you bring Him into each part of your life.

That matters because we do not have the strength as finite beings to love an infinite God.

We do not have the strength as fallen humans to love a perfect God.

We do not have the strength as broken people to love a glorious God.

And yet, Yahweh is for us.

The infinite God gives Himself to finite people.

The perfect God gives Himself to fallen people.

The unbroken God gives Himself to broken people.

And He gives us His strength so that we can know Him, experience Him, enjoy Him, and love Him in response to His love for us.

So how do you take hold of the strength to love Him?

Psalm 105 says, “Seek Yahweh.”

And then it says, “Seek His face.”

That means something life-changing: you do not learn to love the Lord by searching deep within yourself. You learn to love the Lord by beholding His glory.

You do not learn to love the Lord by “working on yourself.” You learn to love the Lord by laying eyes on His beauty.

And that means if you want to be swept up with love for the Lord, your attention has to drift away from yourself.

Not just positive attention, like pride.

Negative attention too.

For so many of us, our spiritual life is in a state of paralysis not just because of sin, but because of something much subtler.

We are paralyzed by a mindset that says, “I have to be perfect, or else my relationship with Him falls apart.”

We are paralyzed by a mindset that says, “If I make one wrong step, my relationship with Him is in danger.”

We are paralyzed by a mindset that refuses to let us sit down, enter God’s presence, and enjoy His love, because it will not stop running that looping voiceover that says:

“Am I good enough?”

“Am I holy enough?”

“Do I feel the right things?”

“Am I praying the right things?”

“Do I believe all the right things?”

“Do I know all the right Bible verses?”

“Am I reading the Bible the right way?”

“Am I doing my quiet time the right way?”

“Am I worshiping the right way?”

Here is the reason that is so insidious: in all those situations, your attention is entirely on you.

Those worries feel so holy, but they are actually a form of self-obsession.

Some of us are actually trying way too hard to please the Lord, when what we need to be doing right now is resting in the Lord.

And the way you do that is by shifting your attention away from yourself and toward His face.

When your inner monologue says, “Am I good enough?” the right answer is, “Who cares? Shut up. Look at how beautiful He is.”

When your inner monologue says, “Are you sure you have enough time to sit here and pray when there are all these things that have not been done yet?” the right answer is, “Who cares? Shut up. Look at how glorious the God who created me is.”

When your inner monologue says, “Are you sure this is the best translation of the Bible to be using right now?” the right answer is, “Who cares? Shut up. Look at how vast the mercy of the Lord is.”

Look at how overwhelming His love for me is.

Look at how beautiful His character is.

For so many of us, the word we need today is this: you have looked enough in the mirror. It is time to look at the cross. It is time to look at the altar. It is time to look at the mountain of the Lord.

Just look away from yourself and fix your eyes on Him, regardless of how you feel.

Because if all of this comes down to seeking His face, then your condition when you walk into His presence each day makes absolutely no difference.

This does not say, “Show up for your time with the Lord and put on a really spiritual face.”

This does not say, “Show up and say a bunch of really spiritual-sounding words.”

If this comes down to seeking His face, then you can show up honestly.

You do not even have to show up and say, “I love You,” because often, that is not the most honest thing we can say.

Often, a much more honest thing to say is, “I want to love You.”

But here is something helpful and true: wanting to love the Lord is loving the Lord.

Wanting to want the Lord is wanting the Lord.

Showing up and saying, “Lord, I am here. Help my heart. I do not particularly want You right now, but I want to want You. I do not particularly love You right now, but I want to love You,” is pouring out your love for the Lord.

The transformation is His role in the process.

Your role is to just keep showing up.

And when you do that, something supernatural happens.

When you go before the Lord day after day after day, gazing at His beauty, you are growing your love for Him.

The Spirit planted love for the Lord within you when He brought you to faith.

And when you show up today, you are watering that love.

When you show up tomorrow, you are cultivating that love.

When you show up the day after tomorrow, you are pruning that love.

And if you keep showing up day after day after day, you will ultimately harvest that love as He grows your love for Him within you.

So pick a place, and meet Him there for a little while every day.

Pick a time, and give Him that time every day.

Pick some spiritual practice, and do it for a little while every day.

And just let Him grow His love into you little by little over the days, the years, and the decades you spend together.

That is the whole thing.