love

I have been thinking alot lately about love. Mainly God's love for us, and I have been trying to understand it. Trying to understand the concepts of love, and how we show the relationship/grow the relationship.
I have come to this conclusion: We should compare our relationship with God to a dating relationship. because essentially that is what this is, the Christian Church is the bride of Christ.

If you were in a relationship, you strive to see them often, and to communicate often. A very dear and special man once told me- "Always court your wife." Many couples, married or dating, have weekly date nights. Think of this as Sunday morning for our relationship with God. We put our best things on, not to impress the other person, but to respect the other person that we care about. We spend intimate time together in public settings here.

But relationships can not last with just weekly dates. If I was to go a week without talking to my girlfriend at all, except on the weekly date, it would be hard to continue the relationship. (You probably know where I'm going with this) Our relationship with God is the same way. We cannot expect to have a good relationship with Him if we only talk to Him Sunday morning.

BUT, and this is something that unfortunately most Christians believe- we don't talk with God every day because he requires it. This may come as a shocker, but no where in the Bible does God say "You must read My Word every day for twenty minutes, along side a Lifeway devotional followed by a prayer."
God never said it. Sorry. here's why: God loves us. Think of this: do you talk to your wife/girlfriend/husband/boyfriend simply because he/she tells you to? No, that would be absurd. You talk to them because you love them, and vice versa. You want to communicate. God loves us and wants to talk to us, but will not be the controlling boyfriend/girlfriend who says "if you hang up or don't talk to me, I'm breaking up with you." He gives us a choice to come to Him. That way when we come to lay at His feet, its because of love, not requirements.

I hope you are able to look at Christianity as a love relationship rather than a religion. That phrase, which I have found very cliche, "Relationship, not religion" is true. Cliche, but very true.
So next time you don't want to go to church, or next time you do your devotion to "earn back points," think about the dating world. It may change your perspective.