What Is God's Plan for My Life?预览

Love and Honor

“Love” is one of the most overused words in our language. We use it with food, activities, movies, and our most intimate relationships. 

But what does it mean to “love the Lord”?

In our culture, love primarily has an emotional connotation. Yet love is much more than that. Love is also a posture of honor. When you love someone, you try to be conscious of how your decisions will affect them. You consider what is best for them, not just yourself. You honor them and their needs.

Loving God is not merely how we feel about Him or how He makes us feel. It’s about honoring Him as our King.

When we face a decision, we must first ask ourselves, “would ____ bring honor to my King?” 

This makes some decisions easy. For example, moving in with my girlfriend would NOT bring honor to my King. Neither would lying on my resume or taking something without paying for it. God’s will is clear in these areas.

But sometimes we are forced to choose between two good things. 

I had to decide if it was God’s will for me to leave one ministry to join another. Both choices seemed to honor God.

Usually, this would mean that I was free to choose whichever path I wanted, but as I examined my heart, I learned why it’s dangerous to “lean on my own understanding.”

For me, one path fed my pride—the other required humility. One allowed me to envision my future success and the admiration of my peers. The other had the potential for significant impact, but others would get the credit. 

One choice left me on the throne of my life. The other placed Jesus there. Guess which one I wanted?

God doesn’t always want us to take the more challenging path, but he is more interested in our hearts than anything we think we can do for him. 

In my case, my heart wasn’t right. 

Our responsibility: Honor Him. 

His responsibility: Everything else.

As you face your decision, remember to examine your heart and lean not on your own understanding. When you do, he’ll make your path straight.

Pray: Lord, search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. In Jesus’ name. Amen.