Where True Worship Begins

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” —Mark 12:30

There’s a lot being said today about freedom, love, and worship, and a fervent attempt is being made in many circles to cultivate love in the Body of Christ and create worshipful experiences. However, true freedom, love, and worship cannot be manufactured. Part of the problem is that we’re short-circuiting the process God has established that leads to these things.

True worship begins with brokenness and humility over whatever God reveals to us in His Word. Poverty of spirit and mourning over our sin lead to genuine repentance, which in turn leads to forgiveness. Forgiveness will produce freedom—freedom from guilt and bondage. When we have freedom that has been birthed out of brokenness, repentance, and forgiveness, we will have a greater capacity for love and for worship. And of course, true love and worship will lead us back to a new level of brokenness, which leads to greater and deeper repentance, increased forgiveness, newfound freedom, and an even greater capacity for love and for worship.