If you want to love God, think.

As a follower of Christ one of my greatest desires is to love God with my affections. Both the Bible and my own experience have taught me that love is far greater than a feeling. But I have also learned that love cannot be devoid of affection. I've often used the illustration, borrowed from John Piper, of a husband giving flowers to his wife on valentine's day in a disinterested, unaffectionate manner. "Honey, these are for you. I didn't want to give them to you, and I don't care if they make you happy. All I know is that I'm supposed to give you something today, so here!" Can you imagine how a wife would respond to that?I have come to believe the same thing holds true with God. God wants me to love him; to sacrifice for his kingdom, to humble myself for his namesake, to make him the center of my life. But God wants me to do those things, and more, with affection! God isn't interested in disinterested service. So the question is, how do I increase my affections for God? I believe one answer to that question is to think.Thomas Goodwin,a 17th century Puritan preacher, once wrote:

Indeed, thoughts and affections are...the mutual causes of each other: "While I mused, the fire burned" (Psalm 39:3); so that thoughts are the bellows that kindle and inflame affections; and then if they are inflamed, they cause the thoughts to boil; therefore men newly converted to God, having new and strong affections, can with more pleasure think of God than any.

It's a powerful connection to make. Our thoughts fuel our affections, and when we have affections for something we think about it more. Consider about how this works in a romantic relationship. If you think about the person you love, you tend to love them more. And the more you love them the more you tend to think about them. The cycle keeps repeating itself as your affections and thoughts grow.It works similarly with God. If you want to have greater affections for God, think about him. This process can seem so strange today. For many people there is an ocean of difference between the thinking theologian and the passionate Christian. Nothing could be further from the truth. Non-passionate 'theologians' aren't doing real theology, and non-thinking 'passionate Christians' aren't really passionate about God--their passionate for whatever their thinking about. My plea to Christians is to think. Think about God, think about Scripture, think about doctrine. Wrestle with the simple and difficult truths of the Bible. Read books by godly men and women who teach the scriptures to you. Become the best theologian you can be (the question, after all, is not 'are you a theologian?'--for every Christian is--but are you a good theologian?). It may feel a bit awkward, but if you want to love God, think.

Controlling Emotions

This past Sunday I preached a sermon on affections. My main goal was to communicate how believers can get off the roller-coaster ride of affections and keep a passion for and delight in Christ that runs through our emotions, desires, and will. In my own pursuit of thriving delight I have found my emotions to be a persistent problem area. I have often noticed that my emotions are profoundly linked to and often direct my desires and will for better or worse. In the worse moments--once I've come out of my emotional stupor-- I often stop and ask, do I have any control over my emotions or am I simply left to deal with what I have?  After asking that question more times than I care to admit, I have come to believe that we do have the ability--in Christ--to control our emotions.For most of my life I've tried to do just that in the wrong manner. I've tried to tackle emotions head on. You know, tell yourself to stop being sad, just start being happy, make yourself care more (in retrospect it's like the emotional equivalent to saying 'walk it off'). What changed my thinking was a paper written by Jonathan Edwards titled Religious Affections. In his work Edwards points out that emotions have to be tackled from a ground up approach. Mark Talbot illustrates Edwards teaching in the diagram below.The point of the diagram is to show us that our emotions don't appear out of thin air. They arise from the beliefs and concerns working in our every day life. Think about the following scenario: I have a loving concern for my wife and daughter. Say you come up to me and tell me both of them have been in a car accident. If I believe you, my concern for my family and belief in the accident will produce emotions like anxiety, fear, desire for their well being, and love. The emotions won't come from thin air. If I didn't care for my family, or if I didn't believe your report, I would not have the same emotions. If what I'm saying is right, our emotions are a window into our deep beliefs and concerns, often revealing things we wish were not there.What I took from all this was a lesson on how to fight for right emotions. My aim is not to go straight for the wrong emotions; instead, I should be looking at the deep beliefs and concerns that give rise to my undesirable emotions. I truly believe that if you and I have right beliefs about Christ (that he is the most valuable, beautiful, and desirable thing in existence) and right concerns in life (like the realty of eternity and our role in God's master plan), then right emotions will follow. That's why the purpose of our church is 'to know and delight in Christ.' That order isn't an accident. We must first know Christ, getting our beliefs and concerns in order, and then we will delight in him. So when you find your emotions are out of order, stop and ask what beliefs and concerns are driving your emotions, replacing anything false with the truth of God's glorious gospel.(The diagram was taken from A God Entranced Vision of All Things, p.235, edited by John Piper and Justin Taylor.)