Worship: He’s Worth It

The whole point of becoming a Christian is to know and love God, ourselves, and others the way Jesus did.  But what exactly is love?

We use the word “love” whenever we strongly desire or value something.  But there are three very different kinds of love:

1. Happiness: because it what we want and makes us feel good
2. Glory: because it helps us become or be known as our best
3. Relationship: because we feel or want to be connected to it

These kinds of love can get in each other’s way. We have to decide what we want most. Should I let my friend have the first turn at my favorite video game?  Should I eat the healthy broccoli, or the extra cookie that will give me a tummy ache?

Jesus showed us that loving God above everything else is the healthiest kind of love. When we value God’s happiness, glory, and relationship with us the most, we are free to love ourselves and other people the way God does.  And God is free to give us the kind of happiness, glory, and relationships He wants for us.

But when we value our own happiness, glory, and relationships above God or other people, we just end up with a big mess.  We make ourselves miserable.  We become the worst version of ourselves.  And we hurt the people we care about.

Baptism is committing to the hard road of loving God first, rather than the easy road of loving yourself first.  Are you ready?