How to Fall Out of Love..... (With God)

When we find peace with God, its easy to love Him while basking in the glow provided as we are cleansed by His grace and showered with His mercy. Our need for Jesus is so obvious while the recognition of ourselves as sinners is fresh. Jesus said -- `YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' (Matthew 22:37 NKJV) As in personal relationships, the initial passion we feel for the Lord can easily fade. Many once passionate Christians have by a thousand paths found how to fall out of love with God. Here are a few we need to avoid.

1- Don't let your prayer time become a succession of complaints. When the realization hits new Christians that life with Christ will remain seasoned with many challenges, some  become disillusioned. I've heard many prayers that are actually thinly veiled gripes against God, betraying a lack of trust in Him and blaming Him. This immature prayer treats God as weak and in need of our instruction. It seeks to supersede His Divine will for our lives with our own. Paul wrote, I have learned to be content.... (Philippians 10, NKJV) Our prayers should be vessels of praise, trust, and humble worship. Blame breaks relationships. If we complain and blame Him we will find ourselves falling out of love with God.

2- Without intimacy in service with Christ, relationship lapses into religion. Our lives should emanate from the whispered leading of the Holy Spirit within our hearts. In obedience to that still small voice we'll find ourselves not sent out by the Lord, but going out with Him. I have many intimate friendships which were bonded on the mission field while walking out not only a God inspired, but also a God led mission. On those missionary days, as my heart was knit together with my fellow workers in the harvest, it was even more tightly bound to Christ. Don't just serve Him, serve with Him. If we fail to live in intimacy with Christ, we will quickly find Him distant and fall out of love with Him.

3- I once read a book called How to Learn to Love Your Boss. I've never had a bad boss, but apparently there are many who are capricious, arbitrary, self centered and unreliable. Some of us have had parents who have displayed similar bad qualities. God is our ultimate authority figure, and we can easily assign to Him the poor qualities of our lesser gods. No one will ever have a boss like God -- one who always loves us perfectly, always wants and knows what is best for us, and always knows exactly what we need. If we assign the vices of our failed authority types to the Lord, we will fall out of love with Him.

YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.

Jesus didn't speak delicately about the need for us to live with Him in a passionate, driven, fearless, all consuming trusting relationship. The church at Laodacea did not, and he told them - I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.

There is no such thing as lukewarm love for Jesus. The Laodaceans tried it -- and fell out of love with God.


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