I think that most people begin seeking God in Guilt or Gain mode. Guilt, I am dirty, I am a mess, I am facing judgment and I need forgiveness and mercy and to have this guilt and shame removed, or gain, what can or will God do for me? I want to please God so He won't be mad at me, so that things won't go badly for me, or so that things will go well. Neither of these are bad places to start seeking God and getting to know Him, as any time we turn to God is a good time and a good reason. Many an excellent relationship with Daddy began with a desperate 9-1-1 spiritual distress call. Few, if any, would begin to seek that relationship without wanting the fruits and benefits that come with it. Even now, I proclaim the awesome freedom, the life worth living, the peace, love, joy and other results of walking in relationship with the Spirit. They are real, they are true blessings and they only increase the deeper in relationship we go.
There is no question that being made new and clean and to be rid of shame and condemnation is important and a huge reason to come to God, as is the gain of life and freedom and the fruits of the Spirit. No, this is not a bad place to start. But praise God for grace to grow beyond that to a place where the relationship is because of and purposed for love. Where it is about giving and receiving love from the One who loves us and gave Himself for us and sharing that love with others. When love is the motivation it drives us ever deeper, no matter what our circumstances. If our relationship remains guilt based, when we no longer feel guilty, we tend not to seek as much. We can fall into complacency and drifting. When it's based on gain, we tend to examine everything through the filter of benefits, and if our perception is that we are not gaining enough or quickly, then we feel neglected, abandoned or betrayed. In both cases we are still self centered. Our relationship with God is all about ourselves, and it is a fine line between that and the self seeking life we were fleeing from to begin with.
But when the relationship becomes based on, just that, relationship, then love is the motivation, the reward and the stability. Lack of guilt and condemnation causes rejoicing that draws us deeper and causes love to grow even more, instead of becoming a reason to relax and drift, and the benefit of Daddy's love becomes all the gain that we need to seek Him and stay steadfast, even if our perception of life doesn't show as much gain as it does struggle or suffering.
Sorrow and suffering aren't automatically eliminated because we have a good relationship with Daddy. Jesus was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, and He had a perfect relationship with Daddy. They were one in unity. Pain is not always removed, and suffering may continue right up to the end, as it did for Jesus on the cross, but the spiritual damage, the emotional despair and the mental anguish of suffering can be done away with so that in the midst of pain and suffering there is joy and peace rooted in love and the assurance of love. That is an awesome place to live, no matter what is going on.
Today, let our motivation be His love for us and our love for Him, and let us ask the Spirit to take us through and past the prodding of guilt or gain.
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