Ever heard "It's a relationship not a religion"? It used to worry me, to tell you the truth. It made it sound like Christianity was a lie or something. Like everything I had been raised to believe was true, was actually false, and it scared the kicking, screaming stars out of me.
I just couldn't understand what was wrong with religion. And even if there was or wasn't something "wrong" or "mistaken", I wasn't strong enough in my faith to dare ask the question. It was just so much easier to ignore it for fear of...well, everything. It was less scary to deny it altogether as false or blasphemy than to actually ask God the tough questions. But thank His endless love He allowed enough pain in my life to make me ask the scary questions.
Because I learned that I certainly never truly understood what it meant to be in love with God. I thought I did, of course, but I know now I was wrong, or at the very least I realized I didn't have all the information I needed to completely understand who I am in relationship to God, how He and I actually connect verses how we are supposed to connect--how He longs to connect with me, with us.
But after much needed study and devotion and prayer and soul searching, I now say it all the time. It's a relationship, not just a religion. But what does that really mean? What is the difference between religion and relationship when it comes to loving and worshiping and following God and His precepts?
This article, "Are You Loving God Out Of Obligation?" from Relevant Magazine (which focuses on "God. Life. Progressive Culture.") explains it really well.
Why do we obey God? Do we obey God because we know we are supposed to? Or is there something more to it than that? And if so, what is it?
Are any of us loving God out of obligation? Is it a love that reads by rote? Or are you actively engaging God because you are so in love with Him you can't possibly imagine doing anything but what would make the one you love happy?
Obeying God because you know you are supposed to is hard. Obeying God because you are in love with Him is easy, natural.
So if you feel like something is missing between you and God, if your life with Him is just even a little "off," if you are having difficulty doing what you know He wants you to, or if you want to take a close look at why you do the things you do, which is very scary but worth it, please read this article from Relevant Magazine written by Chris Hodges. It will open your heart to the Truth God longs for you to hear: that He wants you to fall in love, with Him, the way He has fallen in love with you. Because "loving God is so much more than something you 'should' do."
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