Within Week 2: You Are What You Love | Pastor Bryan Jarrett | Northplace Church

For more than two decades as your pastor, you've heard me occasionally use this phrase.

I've repeated it a lot in 20-something years.

The proof of desire is in pursuit.

In other words, the level you truly love something.

want something, desire something will be proven by how passionately you go after it, how passionately you pursue it.

For example, over the years as pastors, Haley and I have had couples, married couples that will come to us, no problem in their marriage, verbally expressing love to each other.

But in spite of that, there will often be one spouse, not uncommon, that one of the spouses confesses to feeling maybe unloved or unwanted all while the other spouse frustratingly says, but I tell you all the time that I love you.

Here's the problem.

When your words express a certain level of love, but the level of your pursuit doesn't confirm, it leaves room for doubt.

You can tell your spouse you love them, but if you never actually pursue them or you don't take time for them or you don't regularly choose them over other things, then what you're describing is a certain degree of affection, but your desire may be questionable.

Desire moves toward what it wants.

Desire acts.

Desire will reorganize your schedule around what it longs for.

So here's the real question.

If you don't have that kind of desire, how do you awaken it? Because what may be true in a marriage situation is even truer in your relationship with God.

For more than two decades as your pastor, you've heard me occasionally use this phrase.

I've repeated it a lot in 20-something years.

The proof of desire is in pursuit.

In other words, the level you truly love something.

want something, desire something will be proven by how passionately you go after it, how passionately you pursue it.

For example, over the years as pastors, Haley and I have had couples, married couples that will come to us, no problem in their marriage, verbally expressing love to each other.

But in spite of that, there will often be one spouse, not uncommon, that one of the spouses confesses to feeling maybe unloved or unwanted all while the other spouse frustratingly says, but I tell you all the time that I love you.

Here's the problem.

When your words express a certain level of love, but the level of your pursuit doesn't confirm, it leaves room for doubt.

You can tell your spouse you love them, but if you never actually pursue them or you don't take time for them or you don't regularly choose them over other things, then what you're describing is a certain degree of affection, but your desire may be questionable.

Desire moves toward what it wants.

Desire acts.

Desire will reorganize your schedule around what it longs for.

So here's the real question.

If you don't have that kind of desire, how do you awaken it? Because what may be true in a marriage situation is even truer in your relationship with God.