How do we prevent our love for God (and for people) from becoming cold and mechanical, especially as we serve in our CG and church ministries?

𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲. It is the foundation and motivation of our devotion, ethics, and ministry (1 Cor 13:1-3). We need to daily remind ourselves of God’s love for us and meditate on it. At the same time, we need to remove any sin that stands in the way of our relationship with God. The more we receive divine forgiveness, the more we experience the love of God.

If we are feeling dry in our souls, we should slow down and re-examine our personal relationship with God. We should take time to 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁, 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝘆, 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽. Sometimes, we may even need to withdraw from leadership for a season to realign ourselves to the Lord and be renewed in His presence. Even Jesus and His disciples needed moments of rest.

Practically, the way to ensure that our love for others is neither cold nor mechanical is to 𝗯𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 about 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 “𝟮𝟴𝟰” 𝗼𝗳 𝟭 𝗖𝗼𝗿 𝟭𝟯. As we act in obedience to Jesus’ commandment (Jn 13:34-35; 2 Jn 4-6) to honour and serve others, often, the loving feelings will soon follow.