-1 Cor. 13:13
The other day I was reading 2 Samuel 23:15-16, “And David said longingly, “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and carried and brought it to David.” As I finished this section, I asked myself: what would cause these three men to rick their lives to get David a cup of water? The only answer I could find was love.
Love is the ultimate and final motivator. Fear can only motivate to an extent, and a superficial extent at that. Fear does not inspire someone to go above and beyond to serve. Duty only motivates someone to do what is required; it does not provide motivation for the extraordinary.
Love motivated God to send Christ into the world, the defining supererogatory action of history. God had no duty to send Christ. Indeed, duty would have been fulfilled by the just judgment of all humanity, not the offer of salvation. Nor was God motivated by fear to accomplish the salvation of the world. Love accomplished this greatest act of history.
Likewise, love is the singular motivation in our relationship with God. A response to God purely out of duty neglects the accomplished work of Christ by producing the false notion that we can repay God the debt we owe Him by our dutiful works. Duty is also a poor motivator in times of trial and temptation when other options, sinful options, seem to provide far more. Yet love will triumph in these times to compel us to turn to Christ in love to live life like Him.
Naturally, all humans love something or someone other than God, the Bible uses the term idolatry to describe this; something else takes the place that God should have in our lives. Yet, as we surrender our lives to God, He does an amazing thing in our hearts. He turns our heart away from the idols that we love and changes us so that we love Him instead. As we grow in love for God, our love for idols decreases.
Finally, the Apostle Paul reminds us that love is the greatest part of our relationship with God. Faith will last until we reach heaven when we will see the object of our faith. Hope will last until that hope has been realized. But love will last for the rest of eternity as we rest in the love of God forever.
