Are we “faithful” because we love the Lord our God, or is it because we fear the devil? Or perhaps even because we fear God? Which among these is the primary driver—and why does it matter?
On the surface, it might seem a silly question—one worthy of dismissal—maybe because we think the answer is “all of the above.” But hold on a minute. I’m not so sure that’s an honest answer, and such a serious question requires an honest answer. We really should know which it is because it likely matters more than anything.
Do we truly love the Lord, our God?
When I honestly examine my own psyche, and when I probe others with this question, what comes up in capturing our responses to God are mostly reverence and gratitude—or other shades of these—which is not the same as Love, capitalization intended.
So, let me get this out of the way right up front: I’m guessing most Christians would arrive at some combination of the last two rather than the first.
I mean, when you think about it, to some degree it’s nearly impossible to love that which we don’t know intimately. Perhaps some truly faithful souls may be assured that they love the Lord, but most of us don’t “know” God in the way we know our spouse, our children, our parents, and even our friends. Our experience with love is derived from the physical senses and human interactions. To push beyond that requires dedication, commitment, and serious intention.
The Sum of All Fears
And then we have the devil—at least in our minds, a fairly vivid character. Maybe it’s because we’ve encountered so many fictionalized images and depictions of the devil through literature and film; maybe it’s because we naturally gravitate toward that which disturbs and horrifies. Whatever the case, I think we find it easier to imagine the embodiment of evil as a more present force in our lives than it is to imagine our all-encompassing but abstract concept of God.
There’s also the reality that fear is a more primal survival mechanism and a more compelling motivator in most of what we do, so fearing torment at the hands of this ultimate evil is a more innate response. But can this fear and its opposite—love—co-exist?
This compels us back to scripture.
Scripture Defines How to Love God
Usually referred to as the “greatest commandment,” Moses related to the Israelites God’s exhortation to “love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deut. 6:5). The Gospels, too, echo this sentiment. In Luke 10:27, Jesus replies to a lawyer’s question about what one must do to inherit eternal life, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
Further, in the Gospel of Mark 12:29-31, a scribe asks Jesus what the most important commandment is. Jesus answered, “The first is this: ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” And in Matthew 22:37, Jesus replied to this question, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” John’s added nuance is that our love for God is a response to His divine love for us (1 Jn. 4:19).
As a model, we are shown King David, who expressed, “As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him?” (Ps. 42:1–2), and “My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God” (Ps. 84:2).
Love In Practice
Luke provides a window into how this love might look in practice with the woman who anointed the Lord’s feet with oil (Lk. 7:35-50). This woman, who was known to be sinful, approached Jesus uninvited but with devotion and servitude. She offered all she was and everything she had in this sacrificial act of faith.
Clearly, God wants us to love Him above all else—and while that seems fine in the moment, as soon as we stack “Him” up against, say, our own flesh-and-blood son or daughter, mother or father, husband or wife, well, then things feel a bit…muddy. And mere fondness toward and appreciation of God won’t do.
So, the question is, are we doing what we are called upon to do in order to invite and foster that love? Are we exerting the kind of dedication, commitment, and intention it takes to establish and maintain that love? I think most of us would have to answer, “no.”
The Crux
So what do we do with that truth? It seems clear to me that we can’t leave it alone once we realize it. We can’t just walk away from it and go about our day-to-day.
It’s worth figuring out what our faith is truly based on—maybe even essential—because if it’s mostly fear, can it really be enough?
Photo by Lea Fabienne on Unsplash
