Jesus Isn’t Your Highschool Crush

How would you feel if you were in a relationship, and your girlfriend/boyfriend asked you how far they could go without offending you or you ending the relationship? They said they really liked you but weren’t completely willing to give up everything they liked for the relationship. At first this doesn’t sound terrible but then they ask if they can still go out one on one with people of the opposite gender. They ask if they can still kiss them on the cheek, and bring another person on your dates together sometimes. Basically how much can get by with while still having the relationship. They want the best of both worlds so to speak.
Now replace yourself with God and the other person with yourself. Jesus came, was crucified for your sins, and now desires a relationship with you. Many times, as Christians, we love the idea of having a relationship with the creator of the universe, but we ask how far we can go before we piss him off.
WHAT IS THAT?
Here’s what it looks like:
Okay, I know that pornography is a sin, but I can still watch a TV show with girls in bikinis, right?
Okay, I know that premarital sex is a sin, but grinding at the dance party is okay, because it’s just for fun, right?
Okay, I know that taking the name of God in vain is a sin, but I can still laugh when a comedian makes a joke that uses it, right?
Okay, I know that slandering random people is a sin, but I can still talk about my friend’s personal problems behind their back because they’re my friend, right?
Okay, I know murder and violence is a sin, but I can still watch a movie that glorifies murder and violence, right?
True love never looks to compromise, true love always seeks out to sacrifice.
So the question that remains is this: if you’re trying to always compromise things in your relationship with God, do you love him or do you just like him?
If you like someone, you’ll compromise.
If you love someone, you’ll sacrifice.
Why?
Because that person you love worth more to you than anything else in your life and so sacrificing the other things in your life doesn’t even seem like sacrificing because those things already fade in comparison to that person. More than that, a true lover DESIRES to sacrifice for their lover, because sacrifice is the greatest act of love and the truest form of proof of it. You can often tell how serious a romantic relationship is by how much they’re sacrificing for the other person. People that like each other compromise, people that love each other sacrifice.
Compromise is evidence of mutual affection.
Sacrifice is evidence of mutual adoration.
Do I love my Savior or do I have a cute crush on him?
Do I love my Heavenly Father, or do I just like him?
I’m scared of the answer to that.
Because to be honest with you, I seek compromise WAY more than I seek sacrifice. I don’t want to piss off God so I go as close to the line as I can without crossing it. “Is this okay God? Can I go a few inches more please? Look God, I’m not over the line!”
That’s like telling your lover to be proud of you for just sleeping in a stranger’s bed, and not having sex with them. “Look how close I got without crossing the line? I gave that up for you!”
What?
That’s not love, that’s interest at best.
Are you interested in God or do you love him?
I’m afraid we’re not nearly as in love with Jesus as we think we are.
The creator of music and the Pacific ocean is so jealous for us. But it’s not a selfish kind of jealousy. Know why? Because he knows that we were created for him and so the best and most joyous fulfillment we will ever receive in life is when we lay down everything for him. We’re like mad violinists trying to play electric guitar in a classical orchestral piece. We were made to play the violin, and the conductor is jealous for our strings to join in harmonious chorus that he can direct.
He sacrificed everything for us, how can we not do the same?
He died for us, and we think giving him 15 minutes of our morning is sacrifice?
No. That’s compromise.
A true lover sacrifices.

Are you a lover?

“Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”

“For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”