Compelled, Controlled & Consecrated

What is it in your life that not only compels you to do things, but also controls how you do them?  What is the ultimate “why” that is the reason for your doing things?  What is it in your life that governs the intent and purpose of your innermost being, your soul?

We might eat or drink to satisfy a natural need of hunger or thirst.  We might exercise to stay fit or lose weight.  We might study or read to increase our human understanding or seek entertainment.  But what is it that would drive you if all else was taken away, if those things were removed from your life.

Why do you “run the race”?  Why are “in training” for?  What is the “prize” you are seeking to win?

In his second letter to the church of God in Corinth, Paul writes in defense of his purpose, mission, calling, and passion.  In chapter 5 verses 14-15 he responds with these simple yet deeply powerful words to declare the “thing” which compels him, that controls him in all that he does.  He writes: “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” 

In the surrounding verses Paul explains what “the love of Christ” is.  It is his salvation.  It is all that Christ did for him.  It is the dual truth of Christ’s justifying work on the cross to make payment for the immeasurable weight and cost of Paul’s sin, and at the same time the imputation of Christ’s righteousness in his life.  It is the personal, real, immediate and eternal affect and effect of the Gospel in his life.

In the unmatched, undeserved light of the truth of the personal working of the Gospel in Paul’s life, he says that nothing else has preeminence in determining the code by which he will live, the prize to which he strives, and the standard of measure by which he is driven. It impacts the why, the what, and the how of his life.

In our lives we need to adopt a similar singularity in our hearts and minds. The love of Christ should compel, control, and consecrate all that we do, think, and say. With the love of Christ as our locus we are certain to stand before God and hear well done, good and faithful servant.