Becoming What We Love
A Monday morning devotional
It is human nature to become like that which we love. Married couples grow more and more alike as the years go by. Children act like their heroes and seek to emulate their behavior. But there can be a dark side to this truth as well.
Those who love violence develop bloodlust and become violent themselves. Those who love relaxing avoid responsibility and fall deeper into slothfulness. Those who love wealth seek to acquire it in sordid ways. The list goes on.
The prophet Hosea described how Israel "came to Baal-Peor and consecrated themselves to the thing of shame, and became detestable like the thing they loved" (Hos. 9:10). We become like what we love. Israel loved a detestable thing, so in the days of Hosea, they became detestable.
When Jesus was asked what the greatest and most important commandment of God was, he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment" (Matt. 22:37-38). According to Jesus, the most important thing somebody can do in life is to love God with all of their heart, soul, and mind. Why? Because we become like what we love. So, when we love God, we can be merciful, fair, just, loving, compassionate, forgiving, holy, slow to anger, etc. When we love God we will also love our neighbor who was made in God's image.
When you find yourself in patterns of destructive behavior, experiencing chaos, turmoil, or whatever else, be sure to examine what you love. Some love comfort, convenience, and self-gratification more than God. Some love appearing to love God more than they actually love God. And some, like in Hosea's day love detestable things and thus become detestable.
The condition of our heart matters because all of life (and eternity) flows from it. Have a heart that finds its greatest joy in loving God. If your heart can't do this, don't worry. God can give you a new one: "I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh" (Ezek. 36:26).