Bobby McDonald - The difference between love for God and devotion to Him

Bobby McDonaldJuly 13, 201511mWatch on YouTube

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Speaker: Bobby McDonald Title: Bobby McDonald - The difference between love for God and devotion to Him Date: 07-12-2015 Our Goal as Christians is this: To be an exact reflection of Jesus, the Son of God (Romans 8:29) We do this individually by growing in purity in our personal lives (1 John 3:2-3) We do this corporately by becoming fully functioning members of a local Church (Ephesians 4:11-16)

Summary

The speaker distinguishes between 'devotion to God' and 'love for God.' Devotion is defined as making one's life revolve around Jesus, exemplified by Mary choosing the 'good part' over Martha's many tasks. Love, conversely, is rooted in action for another's sake, citing John 15:13, and is best understood through keeping God's commandments (1 John 5:3) as a sacrifice. Ultimately, both concepts require centering life on Christ above all else.

Outline

The message in plain words, in the order it unfolds. Select a time to jump the video to that moment.

What is the difference between love for God and devotion to Him?The speaker considers whether love and devotion are the same thing, noting how Scripture commands both loving God with all one's heart and maintaining a pure devotion to Jesus.

Devotion means making life revolve around JesusBeing devoted means determining that Christ is the main thing in life, pushing everything else into second place much like an athlete focuses entirely on winning a gold medal.

Mary and Martha as a picture of devotionMartha was distracted by many good serving tasks, but Mary chose the one necessary thing by sitting at Jesus' feet, illustrating pure devotion to the person of Christ.

Keeping good things in their proper placeWhile family, health, and serving God are important, devotion dictates that none of these temporary things replace Jesus as the true center of our lives.

What does the Bible say love for God is?Instead of relying on self-conceived ideas or emotional pictures of love, the speaker looks directly to Scripture to define what it means to love God.

Love for God means keeping His commandmentsFirst John defines God's love as keeping His commandments, which are not burdensome when approached with the right heart.

Laying down our lives for His sakeJesus defined the greatest love as laying down one's life for friends, which in daily life translates to sacrificing our fleshly desires out of love for Christ.

Obedience as a living sacrificeObeying God's commands requires sacrificing what our flesh wants so that we prioritize God's joy and priorities above our own.

Avoiding the trap of wrong motivesIt is easy to attend church and do religious things with the wrong motive of loving oneself rather than truly loving God.

The danger of being lovers of selfSecond Timothy warns that a primary marker of difficult end times is that people will be lovers of self, living for their own comfort and desires.2 Timothy 3:1

Being wholehearted in love and devotionLove and devotion are two sides of the same coin, and believers should strive to be one hundred percent wholehearted in both.

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Bobby McDonald - The difference between love for God and devotion to Him

Bobby McDonald · July 13, 2015 · 11m

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