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We Are What We Love
Earlier this year, I read The Expulsive Power of a New Affection, a sermon, by Puritan Thomas Chalmers, which echoes what we hear each Sunday under the gospel preaching at Rockford Reformed Church—that only a greater affection can displace our affections for sin and the world.
Often, we rely on just our best efforts to fight sin: setting guardrails, reading books, or joining accountability groups. While these are valuable and necessary, when used alone, they often lead to bitter failure, inauthenticity, or hypocrisy as we present a false self to others while hiding our struggles.
Chalmers pinpoints the root issue: we love sin, the world, and darkness. Trying to cut these off in our own power is cutting off what we love—and love demands satisfaction. The only solution is the "new affection" Chalmers describes: the love of God, a far greater and more satisfying affection than anything sin or this world offers. As Blaise Pascal observed, our longing for God is a void God alone can fill.
How then do we grow in our love for God? We look to Jesus, God in the flesh. In Matthew 6:22, Jesus says, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.” While often interpreted to mean our eyes follow our hearts’ desires, Jesus may be teaching the reverse: what we fix our eyes on will ultimately shape our hearts. So, if we fix our gaze on wealth, power, relationships, sex, pornography, sports, or any other lesser god, we will be transformed by it—we are transformed by what we love and look to.
Conversely, when we fix our eyes on Jesus—through His Word, His life, and His person—our love for Him will grow. This new affection, the one we were actually created for, becomes the power of Jesus’ Spirit within us, expelling the false loves that war for its place. It is affection for Jesus, not our best efforts, that crucifies our sinful nature!
As we look forward to celebrating Jesus’ first advent, let’s prepare our hearts for His return by fixing our gaze on Him.
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