This morning, as it is every morning, I made my wife Sheila a special latte with a marshmallow like cream to top it and an espresso creme-foam heart shape on top of that in a special cup that says, “Forever Newlyweds.”

Do I feel I have to do it?  Am I trying to earn something?  The answer is NO!

I do it simply because I love her!  It is a way for me make her feel special every morning.  I enjoy doing something I know she likes and appreciates, simply because I love her.  I do not do it out of fear that if I don’t she might fall out of love with me, be upset with me, or leave me.  I am not afraid that if I missed a morning or stopped altogether that she would be angry and seek to find ways to make me pay for it throughout the day.  Sheila is not manipulative.  She loves me.

She doesn’t press me to do it, or even suggest it.  In fact, she would be most willing to make her own latte, and she does so whenever I am traveling away from home and not available to do it for her.  It is not a thing of expectation born out of entitlement in her.  She would gladly get up and make her own and not think a thing about it.  But, I enjoy doing this for her.

Funny, how things done from love are devoid of boredom.  It is also interesting how things done from the motivation of love do not leave the person doing them feeling as though it was too hard, or too much.  It makes difficult things easier.  It also doesn’t make the person receiving feel as though they owe anything in return.  Another interesting observation is that things done out of love also produce a greater consistency and longevity.

Now I will admit that if my wife carried on as though she hated me and only tolerated me, it might make put a damper on the desire to make her a latte each morning.  If everyday I lived with a sense that she expected me to make that latte for her out of a thought of being entitled, that would make me feel more like a servant to her than a husband.  If that were the case, I might not even have the creativity to think of making it for her.  It would make doing it, if I did do it, a drudgery.

Why?  Because when we feel we are having to do things for someone to earn something, or out of fear of being subjected to their anger or retribution, it feels like slavery to us.

Sadly, many professing believers in Jesus live everyday in a must do frame of mind as opposed to a get to do.  This is because they are lacking in their revelation of Christ’ love and living under a sense of needing to earn it.

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

1John 4:19 We love Him because He first loved us.

1Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

Paul knew how horribly he had treated Christ by persecuting the church and thus Paul understood how great a mercy he had received and how great a love was his as well.  Paul was motivated by love according to grace.  Paul knew the love of Christ and as a result could believe in all that was available to him to accomplish all that he was called to do.  Paul endured so many hardships and difficulties it is staggering to think about.  But we see how he never waned, he never quit, he never gave up and he never attributed it to his own sense of faithfulness or endurance.  He knew the source of it all!  Jesus loved him and as a result of having such a great love Paul loved Jesus in return.  His heart responded to knowing he was loved by Christ with the fruit of love in return.

Whenever I am in a place of struggle I seek to remind myself of the love of Christ because all my circumstances and situations are trying to tell me His love is no longer with me.  I can never rely on those things to know His love for me.  I must go to His word to settle that matter and then believe according to the revelation the Holy Spirit offers me in His word regarding His love that never fails.  It is then that I can once again rise up and continue on the path He set for me.  It is out of that place of being loved and loving in return that consistency and faithfulness are fueled in my life.

Jesus loves you!  This I know.  The Holy Spirit in the Bible has told me so.  I believe it and am convinced that He will never leave you or I nor will He ever forsake us.  I encourage you to allow that to be the source of your obedience and faithfulness.