"Who" Comes Before "What"; Love is a Great Motivator than Fear

This is the way that grace works. 
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Why is it so vitally important for us to know "who" we are in Christ in order to effectively do "what" He commands us to do? The list of reasons is quite long but in my humble opinion, here are the top three. 

1. Love is a greater motivator than fear. 
2. Adoption yields a new name AND a new life entirely. 
3. Death on a cross was a means to an end.

LOVE IS A GREATER MOTIVATOR THAT FEAR

First, love is a greater motivator than fear. In fact, love is the greatest motivator in all the universe. Want to find the desire to "do" more for God? Just meditate on His love for you for a while. Want to feel more secure as a Christian? Just think about what God really thinks of you for a bit. Want some motivation to access the power of God to overcome sin, and live a life of freedom? Just plunge yourself into the wonderful depths of the love of God. But try to scare yourself into these and there awaits nothing but failure. True, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." That's just it: it's the beginning. But knowing and accepting the full glory of God's love for you -- that is the the completion.

"Love" appears over 650 times in the Bible, while "fear" is found 252 times. Of the 252, only 45 of those are in the NT. So the concept of fear is mostly found in the Old Covenant. But get this, "Christ" is found 499 times in the Bible. The word Love is the most common and just about tied with Christ. Related to love, "grace" is used 123 times, and "mercy" 121. It becomes very clear when reading all of these that God intends for us to really know His LOVE and feel it deeply. God wants to have a relationship of LOVE with us. He does not want a relationship of fear with us any more than we would want that sort of relationship with our friends, our spouse, or our children. Love is a greater motivator than fear. When we feel loved by a person we desire to be with them, to please them, and to tie those bonds tighter. But fear does just the opposite of love.

Fear breaks down our motivation to press into a deeper relational unity. Fear of judgment is fine. We should fear judgement. A Judgment "Day" is coming and that is true. But fear of God and fear of God's judgment are two different things. Here's what I mean. My children do not fear "me." They fear the punishment which I will give them should they misbehave. This is an important distinction. What they feel from me is -- day in and day out -- love, as displayed in my continual praise for their good deeds; constant affection in the form of hugs, kisses, and cuddling; and, of course, me telling them, "I love you." They feel love and thus they want to please me. Of course they fail and then they are corrected. But following every correction is a loving embrace, as well as a further explanation of my love for them, my complete and unconditional forgiveness, and especially by complete acceptance of who they are as my child. As they grow into this identity as my child and feel the love from my heart they are motivated to please me.

This is the same in our relationship with our Father. He IS our Father you know. Father, as in the same Father which Christ called "Abba" Father. And we too call him Abba Father, for He is the only perfect father in our lives. And what is this perfection? Think about it. Imagine a perfect Father. Image a perfect response to every failure, every shortfall, every sin, in fact imagine a Father's perfect response to your very core being -- who you really are. That perfect response is exactly what you get from God, our Father. God is LOVE. That love is complete. We can do nothing to increase nor decrease that love. Let me say that again: We can do NOTHING to increase nor decrease God's love for us. God's love is already maxed out for us! Did you know that? His perfect love is ours if we fully accept it. But there are so many barriers to our fully receiving God's love.

One of the barriers to receiving God's perfect love is certainly an unhealthy fear of God. Love is a greater motivator than fear. If you don't believe me try a little experiment. Read all the passages about God's love and spend a week meditating on God's complete love. Ask the Spirit to help you. At the end of the week or so see if there is more of the fruit of His Spirit, and more motivation to please God. Then remember that we aim to please Him not because there is anything we can do to increase nor decease His love for us, nor earn our salvation in any way possible. We only aim to please Him because He first loved us. And oh, how great is that love!!!  If we really take enough time to let this love pour into us we would do nothing short of shout it from the mountaintops! 

Who are we? 
We are the loved children of God. 

Who are we in Christ? We are everything He says we are and, as a result, we are so much more ready to do His will.

"What" we do for God comes from knowing "Who" we are in Him. 

"Who" comes before "what." 

This is the way that grace works.

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Two more ways "Who" comes before "What." 

1. Adoption yields a new name AND a new life entirely. then...
2. Death on a cross was a means to an end.