Spirit-filled Christians love God! In fact, the central and most important characteristic of their lives is that they love God and are experiencing a vital and growing love relationship with Him, their heavenly Father. If we are truly to understand the Spirit-filled life, this must be the starting point; that is because every other characteristic of being filled with the Spirit is an outgrowth of this one. Without love for God and an earnest desire to honor and please Him, our Christian service is reduced to dutiful religious activity devoid of heart and lacking the Spirit’s powerful presence and anointing. As The Apostle Paul writes, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing” (I Corinthians 13:1-2).
The Holy Spirit brings us into deep, personal fellowship with God, our heavenly Father (Ephesians 2:8), enabling us to cry, “Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:6; Romans 8:14-17). Our witness and service are clearly outgrowths of our love for Him; because we love Him, we desire to make Him known, to bring Him honor and glory (Matthew 5:16).
Sometimes our spiritual batteries wane in strength, and our love for God loses its warmth and passion. In Revelation 2:2-4, Jesus had to remind the church in Ephesus that despite their hard work, commitment to sound doctrine, and perseverance in faith, they had lost their first love. He commanded them to repent and to return to service that grows out of vibrant love, not mere sense of duty. Perhaps you and I need that reminder, and need renewal and refreshing in the Holy Spirit.
Recently I gained some new insights from Jesus’ Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. We have all been deeply moved by the story of the father’s yearning and compassionate love for his lost son. When the older brother bitterly complained about his wasteful and sinful brother being treated like a returning hero, the father responded, “We had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” (Luke 15:32). Amazing! We all remember that, right? But do you remember what else the father told his older son? Listen to this: “My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.” Now that’s amazing, too! The elder brother was deeply loved by his dad, and he actually owned everything that his father owned. He just didn’t realize how wonderful his father was, and how blessed he was. He needed his spiritual eyes opened!
Usually when I have thought about the older brother, I have been pretty hard on him, seeing him as harsh, uncompassionate, and self-righteous. But recently I have come to believe that he had some very good qualities. Think about this: he was hard-working, dutiful, dependable, persevering; as a matter of fact, he was much like the hard-working Christians in the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2. And he may have lots more in common with you and me than we have imagined before. Our heavenly Father’s words to us are basically the same as to him: “My son (or daughter), you are always with Me, and everything I have is yours.” We have been blessed in Christ by our Father with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms (read Ephesians 1:3, 17-21). Like the older brother, we, too, need our eyes opened in awe and childlike wonder. We need to see our Father’s incomprehensible goodness and infinite greatness; His unconditional love for us and for everyone else; we need to see and experience all the wondrous blessings and treasures given to us through His Son Jesus Christ. Our Father truly loves us and bestows His unmerited favor and blessings on us.
THE HOLY SPIRIT opens our eyes, enlightening us to see and enabling us to experience, these miraculous blessings. He re-fires our spiritual batteries, refreshes our spirits, rekindles our passion, and restores our love relationship with God: “Abba (Daddy) Father!” How wonderful, how awesome to know and love Him, to serve Him that He might be loved and honored by all peoples and nations throughout the world.
Spirit-filled Christians love God and center their lives around Him. “Be filled with the Spirit.
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:18-20).