Too many Christians are feeling guilty that they don't obey the Lord or love him enough. They're striving to be after "God's own heart"; wanting to speak his love language. The key is knowing and allowing the Holy Spirit to fully establish us in his truth...God's love language is not obedience, it's FAITH. Obedience is the natural bi-product; fruit.
Romans 1:5 "Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith." Romans 16:25, 26 "Now to Him who is able to strengthen you in the faith which is in accordance with my gospel and the preaching of (concerning) Jesus Christ (the Messiah)...according to the command of the eternal God, (to win them) to obedience to the faith." Even your faith is given to you by God, not something you acquire on your own accord.
God's Love for You vs Your Love for God
Everything we have is given to us by the Lord. Faith, hope, love, all of these things are divinely given to us by God himself, they aren't something we "strive" for. You may hear Luke 10:27 referred to often: "Love the Lord God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind." But too many pull out that one scripture and ignore the preceding context. A Lawyer (an expert in law) tested Jesus by asking him what HE must do to inherit eternal life. In Matthew, the rich young man asked Jesus the same question, "What good thing must I do?" Jesus was like, "why are you asking about what good you can do, there is only one who is good." He told the man if he wanted to be perfect to go and sell all of his belongings and follow him. The Bible says he walked away sad. Why? No matter how many rules he took pride in following, there was still one area he wasn't willing to surrender. It wasn't until he asked Jesus what "his part" was, that his true heart was revealed.
When you go to Jesus asking what YOU can do, he'll use the law to show you that you need him. The law is good for the purpose with which it was given, to bring you to the end of yourself. Remember the law was fulfilled when Jesus died. If you are living to make sure you're following all the laws and commands, you'll always be under condemnation because you will never be able to keep all of them.
Feeling guilty because you don't love the Lord enough makes the Christian life look like a huge struggle to love the Lord more and more. You can read the bible more, pray more, do good deeds and acts of love more and more, but you'll always feel guilty and be under condemnation if you base salvation, blessings, miracles, and favor on "your ability". Understand that you can never be good enough in and of yourself, you can never obey all the laws or do enough good deeds. You can never love God enough and you will never be able to love him the way He loves you; it's impossible, and He didn't create you to love Him. By striving to always do these things and inevitably failing, you'll always feel pressure and guilt.
None of this is to say don't obey the Lord. There are things He wants for us, but it's only when you TRUST Him, that you will naturally do what He asks of you. The difference between old covenant and new covenant is anyone who is obeying or striving to follow a list of to-do's in order to receive ANYTHING from the Lord, is under the ministry of condemnation. Grace is receiving from the Lord, knowing who you are in Christ, which naturally causes you to obey.
RESOURCES
You Weren't Created to Love God
You Weren't Created to Love God
