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True Worship Is Relationship
TRUE WORSHIP IS RELATIONSHIP How do we minister to and worship God in spirit and truth? Jesus gave us an answer as he quoted words from the Torah which every Jew of his time knew from memory: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength"; then he added, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:30-31). Worshiping God and loving God are not absolutely synonymous, but they are closely related, perhaps like opposite sides of a continuous circle. This great commandment says that true worship is determined not so much by the words "traditional" or "contemporary," but by RELATIONSHIP—our relationship with God and our relationship with other persons. Worshiping God begins and ends with loving God more than anything or anyone else in the world. It should be apparent then that no person worships God who does not have a love relationship with God. Further, no person worships God acceptably who is not in loving relationship with other human beings, who are "neighbors." —Don Hustad in TRUE WORSHIP: RECLAIMING THE WONDER AND MAJESTY, Harold Shaw Publishers (Hope), 1998. [Lord, thank you for being the initiator of this loving relationship of worship. Help us to respond to your love in spirit and truth. Amen!] Have a great week, Chip Stam |