A loving relationship is all about two hearts choosing to focus their attention and engage their thoughtfulness on each other’s behalf. Love is a choice—and a feeling. Love is an emotion that settles our hearts and fuels our choices. Receiving God’s love over and over again—seeing it, hearing it, experiencing it—this is the good stuff of which good kings are made.
Intimacy with God is essential. Choosing him over all other suitors, even the good, trustworthy ones—counselors, teachers, friends, even your wife—is an easy choice when you experience the reality of his love and the goodness it produces. You don’t have to make this Life happen. Your primary job is simply to stay close to the One who does make Life happen. It’s in closeness that you can hear him tell you how he sees you. It’s through intimacy that he can show you what it is you need, where you can hold back, and where you can press forward. It’s in being in love with God that he can remind you who you are in the kingdom.
Contrary to popular preaching, you’re so much more than a sinner. You’re an image bearer. That’s the truth redeemed men need to be told: that they are saints and can be like their King. It’s the truth our enemy fiercely opposes and our Father wants us to hear again, and again, and again, so it sinks ever more deeply into our hearts and settles us in his love, recalibrating our internal grid and freeing us to choose well. Set the bar low and we’ll knock our heads on it every time. Set the bar high— show and tell us who we truly are, the beloved sons of God—and watch us come alive.
