Love's Power

Scripture Reading: John 21:15

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”

The 19^th-century Scottish Presbyterian, Thomas Chalmers called it “the expulsive power of a new affection.” What he meant by that is that you never turn loose of an old love until a greater new love comes along. That “new affection” has the power to expel the old affections.

When fighting against some sin that has captured your heart’s affection, it is impossible to break its hold over your life by simply trying to reject it. All of your focus is on that sin. It is what you are thinking about and giving your attention to. It is like telling yourself to not think about blue elephants. The act of telling yourself that forces you to think about that which you are trying not to think about.

You need something to replace those thoughts. You need a new affection to replace the old. This is where victory lies. Yes, confess that sin. Yes, repent of it. Repentance is a turning away from it. But what (or more importantly to whom) are you turning to?

The power to overcome lies in a new affection. It comes from learning to love Jesus more. After Peter’s great failure, Jesus confronts him with the critical question, “Do you love me more than these?” This is what we should pray for and pursue with the help of God’s Spirit.

The old hymn by Anne Steele expresses this idea in these words:

Thou lovely source of true delight
Whom I unseen adore
Unveil Thy beauties to my sight
That I might love Thee more,
Oh that I might love Thee more.

Thy glory o’er creation shines
But in Thy sacred Word
I read in fairer, brighter lines
My bleeding, dying Lord,
See my bleeding, dying Lord

Here is a modern version of this song by Indelible Grace on Youtube