Our Diet is for babies, Pt. 6

Series:  What is wrong with church?

C.S. Lewis gave this interesting observation about being in love:

"Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing. There are many things below it, but there are also many things above it.  You cannot make it the basis of a whole life. It is a noble feeling, but it is still a feeling. Now no feeling can be relied on to last in its full intensity, or even to last at all. Knowledge can last, principles can last, habits can last; but feelings come and go. And in fact, whatever people say, the state called ‘being in love’ usually does not last. If the old fairy-tale ending ‘They lived happily ever after’ is taken to mean ‘They felt for the next fifty years exactly as they felt the day before they were married,’ then it says what probably never was or ever could be true, and would be highly undesirable if it were. Who could bear to live in that excitement for even five years? What would become of your work, your appetite, your sleep, your friendships? But, of course, ceasing to be ‘in love’ need not mean ceasing to love.

“Love in this second sense — love as distinct from ‘being in love’ is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by (in Christian marriages) the grace which both parents ask, and receive, from God...They can retain this love even when each would easily, if they allowed themselves, be ‘in love’ with someone else. ‘Being in love’ first moved them to promise fidelity: this quieter love enables them to keep the promise. It is on this love that the engine of marriage is run: being in love was the explosion that started it."

CS Lewis is describing a relationship between a man and a woman but a similar thing happens in our spiritual lives - in our “marriage” with Christ.  When we first meet Jesus we experience an explosion of excitement similar to that feeling of being in love and that's the ignition spark that starts our relationship. But after a while that initial thrill of euphoria will give way to a quieter and more enduring love. That second type of love for Christ is the engine on which our relationship with Him is run. It is a love that is maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit. It is reinforced in our daily walk with Him, our prayer times, Bible study, our acts of kindness and generosity for others and our God-glorifying ministries. These are things that can be sustained over the course of a lifetime and as we are intentional about them our relationship with Him will deepen.

Therefore, do not get discouraged if you are in a setting where you are constantly being fed milk and you seem to have lost your excitement for God. Your love for God could very well be changing for the better – going from euphoria to a quieter and more enduring love.

End of Part 6