ANCHORED BY HOPE, IMPELLED BY LOVE

Impelled by Love and Holy Spirit

A Christian will not progress toward  the new system if his only motive for serving Jehovah is the hope of living forever on a paradise earth.  While keeping his anchor of hop as a stabilizing factor in his life, he needs to add to it and to his faith the impelling force of love.   Paul underscored this fact when he wrote:  "There remain faith, hope, love, these  three; but the greatest of these is love." -1 Corinthians 13:13.

Our motivating force in rendering sacred service should be heartfelt love for Jehovah, in response to his immeasurable love for us.  The apostle John wrote:  "He that does not love has not come to know God, because God is love.  By this the  love of God was made manifest in our case, because God sent forth his only-begotten Son into the world that we might gain life through him.  As for us, we love, because he first loved  us."  ( 1 John 4:8, 9, 19)  Out of gratitude to Jehovah, our primary concern should be, not to gain personal salvation, but to witness the sanctification of his holy name and the vindication of his righteous sovereignty.

Jehovah  wants us to serve him because we love him, not just Paradise.  The Bible encyclopedia Insight on the Scriptures states:  "Jehovah glories in the fact that his sovereignty and the support of it by his creatures is based primarily on love.  He desires only those who love his sovereignty because of his fine qualities and because it is righteous, who prefer his sovereignty to any other.  (1 Corinthians 2:9) They choose to serve under his sovereignty rather than try to be  independent-this because of their knowledge of him and of his love, justice, and wisdom, which they realize far surpasses their own.  (Psalm 84:10, 11)"  -Volume 2, page 275.

As Christians, we also show love for Jesus in response to his love for us.   Paul reasoned:  "The love the Christ has compels us, because this is what we have judged, that one man died for all;  so, then, all had died; and he died for all that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised up."  ( 2 Corinthians 5:14, 15)  Christ is that very foundation upon which our spiritual lives, our faith and our hope are built.  Our love for Christ Jesus bolsters our hope and stabilizes our faith.  especially in times of stormy testing. -1 Corinthians 3:11; Colossians 1:23; 2:6, 7.

While our love for God and for his Son is the main impelling force in our lives as Christians, Jehovah provides something else that impels us, energizes us and gives us strength to go forward in his service.  It is his active force, or holy spirit.  The Hebrew and Greek words rendered "spirit" basically refer to the dynamic movement of the air, such as wind.  Sailing ships like those Paul boarded relied on the invisible force of the wind to get to their destination.  Similarly, we need love and the action of God's invisible active force if our ship of faith is to move us onward in Jehovah's service. -Acts 1:8; Ephesians 3:16.

Next time: Onward to Our Destination!

Watchtower, 2000