“Rightly do they love you” (Song of Solomon 1:4)

The saint loves Christ more than family, honor, wealth, power, and even his own self. It couldn’t be any other way. Christ warned, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. (Luke 14:26). For most people, the respect of their family is their “identity”. Christ warned anyone who wanted to follow Him, their love of Him, must replace the respect of family, friends, and the world.

Christ becomes our single passion. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new ... that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). Sin divides sinners from saints. Sinners pursue pleasure for its own sake, while saints pursue the love of God at all costs. It can’t be any other way. “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).

If it were any other way, saints would never put up with trials. “We also glory in tribulations … Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:3-5).

Throughout history, every method has been used to tempt Christians to recant their faith. All that happens is the counterfeits are divided from the genuine. While your family, friends and the world pursue pleasure for its own sake, you must make “faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6), your moment-by-moment reality. And if God keeps you on Earth long enough, you’ll be able to say with the Apostle Paul, “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content ... I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:11-13).