It’s not enough to know that God loves me. The bible is very clear that the goal of our faith is to know God, that means also to love God in return. Love is to fear him, and to obey him. If we truly know God, we know and see that he is infinitely holy and worthy to be worshipped simply for that fact.

God is holy and my sin is an offense to him. He hates sin, so much so that he poured his wrath on his own Son to be rid of it. God’s desire for us is not only to be loved but to be holy, as he is holy. If only we could deeply know it. We would see the depravity of our sin, and we would fight it with all our soul, mind, and strength, to the point of shedding blood. “In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood” (Hebrews 12: 4).  Let’s be clear – we cannot say we love God unless we also hate our sin. If we are using the loving of God as an excuse to enjoy freedom to sin, the fact is that we do not know the love of God. “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them” (1 John 2: 15).

In light of this truth, I realize my need to repent, daily, moment-by-moment. Who will rescue me from this body of death, this body of complacency, cowardice, unbelief, and pride? Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ my Lord! May our only place of redemption and hope be on our knees before the blessed cross of Jesus. May we crucify our sin to that cross until truly our hearts are made new to purely and wholly love the Lord as he is worthy. May we love him to the point of hating our sin that indeed we might have the fullness of his love in us to live as true witnesses in this world. Amen.