Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is officially here!  Over the next few weeks I plan to blog/speak/think a lot about what God is giving us during this season (His Incarnation into the world) and then in response what we are going to give Him back.  

But before we focus on WHAT we should give Him, we need to first understand HOW we should give it.  As you'll see from the post below - originally written 2 years ago - HOW is more important than WHAT.

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I’m about to ask a dangerous question.  I am asking forgiveness in advance from all the men who read my blog that this question will cause problems for.  The question is for all the married women out there and it’s a simple one.  Ready?  Here goes.

WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM US?

(I think a collective “Nooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!” was just heard out in cyberspace by husbands everywhere)

Wives, what do you want from your husbands?  If I asked you to make a list, what would you write? (assuming of course that you don’t already have this list handy and hung on your refrigerator).

“I wish he’d help with the dishes.  I wish he’d do the laundry.  I wish he’d pick his underwear off the floor up and put it in the hamper.  I wish he’d stop burping.  I wish he would put on a shirt for goodness sake!” 

Ok, that’s a good starting point.  But let me ask you this ladies: if your husband did all those things and even more, would that alone be enough to satisfy you?  If he did everything on your list, is that all you want?  Would you be satisfied?

Regardless of how you answer that question right now, the correct answer is NO.  No way would just having those things done satisfy you.  You need/want much more.  I can go through the motions and do all those things for my wife – I can help with laundry, take out the trash, do the dishes, change the diapers, etc.  I can do all those things.  But if I’m just going through the motions and doing them out of duty, that doesn’t do anything.

We didn’t get married so we could have someone help with the laundry; we got married so we could have a lifelong partner – someone who cares about us and helps because they want to, not because they have to.  We want someone who’ll love us and who will always be thinking about us and who wants to make us happy because it’s what makes them happy.

In other words, WE WANT PASSION!  We don’t want routine.  We hate routine.  Routine kills passion.  And anything in life that is being done out of routine stinks!  Whether that’s your marriage, your career, your friendships, or your relationship with God.

God is a lot more like us than we realize sometimes.  He doesn’t care about rules as much as He cares about passion and desire for Him.  We are the ones who get stuck focusing on rules, not Him.  He has said time and time again that it isn’t the rule following that He is after – it’s passion.

Once when Jesus was asked about what is the most important commandment there is, He said:

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength”  (Mark 12:30).

In other words:  “LOVE ME PASSIONATELY…whole-heartedly…not out of routine or duty or obligation.  Don’t love me in a routine way or just going through the motions.  I want to be loved passionately because that’s how I love you – just look at the picture of My Son dying on the cross to see how passionate I am about you.”

It’s for that reason that our 4th core value at STSA is this:

PASSIONATE PURSUIT OF GOD.  We don’t stop worshiping after we leave the church.  We seek to live passionate lives for God, pursuing Him every day through prayer, Bible reading, giving, witnessing and everything we do.

Do you know what the worst sin in Christianity is?  Guess.  Murder?  Adultery?  Stealing?  What do you think?  What sin out there enrages God so much and puts a bad taste in His mouth.  Any guesses?

“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.  So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.” Revelation 3:15-16  

Answer?  LUKEWARMNESS.  Or in other words…just going through the motions…doing all the right things but doing so without feeling or love.  Said another way, being passionless.  That literally makes God sick to His stomach.

Discussion:  What can we do to rekindle our passion for God?