Our relationship with God is based on our love for Him and His love for us. And because we have this two-way love affair with God we want to to please Him. We should know however, that pleasing God is not the reason God loves us. His love is unearned. We are not in good standing with God because of works. We are in good standing because of grace and faith. This is what the Bible means when we read that we are justified (in good standing with God) by grace and faith.
Yet, because we love God, pleasing Him keeps us close to Him. If we do or say anything we want, without thinking about what God wants from us our relationship with God is strained and can be temporarily broken down. We feel separated from God. Although God still loves us, we don’t feel or sense His love. Our heart is heavy and we feel guilt and regret. Until we fix this with God it is very difficult to sense the love of God again. And we may not sense His love for a while even after we fix it, like a child might feel after they have been disciplined because they displeased their parents. The good news is, we will eventually feel close to God again.
Because we love God and He loves us, we want to strengthen our love for God. We do this by sincerely trying to be what God wants us to be. Strengthening our relationship and love for God really comes down to this part of the Lord’s Prayer – Thy will be done.
Joseph C. Hutchison