The Daily CHEW™
Moving God’s Love from Head to Heart for Christian Professionals
Why This Matters for You
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” can easily land like a heavy assignment on an already full plate. You add it to the list: pray more, serve more, read more, fix more. You may sincerely want to honor God, but love becomes mostly duty—showing up, checking boxes, trying to “stay faithful.” When you hear “enjoy God,” it can sound vague, optional, or maybe even suspect, like a luxury for people with lighter schedules or more feelings.
Yet enjoyment is not extra; it is central. God both commands love and also invites delight. The First Commandment is not fulfilled by bare duty alone but by hearts learning to enjoy God Himself—through meditating on and tasting His love in Christ. Until enjoyment enters the picture, loving God with all your heart will feel more like surviving a job than living your chief end.
The Gospel Meets You Right Here
Jesus names the Great Commandment in Matthew 22:37: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is not just about bare obedience; it is about affection, devotion, and attention directed toward God in everything. The Westminster Shorter Catechism Q1 asks, “What is the chief end of man?” Answer: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” Theologians have long noted that “glorify” and “enjoy” are not two separate ends but one united purpose: God is most glorified when His people genuinely delight in Him.
Scripture fills in how that enjoyment grows. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19, ESV). God takes the first step—revealing His love in the sending of His Son (1 John 4:9–10) and pouring His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). As that love moves from concept to tasted reality, duty is not erased but warmed. You still obey, serve, and sacrifice, but increasingly as someone enjoying God’s heart rather than just working for His approval.
The lie says:
- “Your job is mainly to perform for God; enjoyment is optional or suspicious.”
- “Duty proves you love God; delight is for unusually emotional believers.”
- “Meditating on God’s love is a break from real obedience, not part of it.”
The truth says:
- “Your chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him—glory and joy are intertwined.”
- “God’s prior love in Christ is meant to be known and believed, not just affirmed—so that love for Him becomes grateful delight, not mere grit.”
- “The First Commandment is fulfilled not by duty alone but by hearts that increasingly delight in the God who loved them first.”
As you meditate on and taste God’s love—His character, His works, His promises, His nearness—duty is not discarded; it is transformed into willing, even joyful, response.
- Worship becomes glad-hearted, not just correct.
- You love God more as His goodness and mercy become enjoyable realities, not mere doctrines.
- You love others better because the joy of being loved spills outward, making sacrifice and patience less grudging and more free.
Healing from cold obligation, growth in real affection, and strategic clarity about what practices actually help you enjoy God then emerge as fruits of grace, not as techniques to earn His smile.
CHEW On This™: Practice Moving Enjoyment of God from Head to Heart
Pause at each CHEW step below. Reflect, and answer in your own words—you’ll see a sample below each question. This is where the Gospel gets personal.
Confess
Question:
What are you feeling, fearing, or hiding from God right now about “enjoying” Him—and how is that affecting the way you relate to Him and to others?
Sample answer:
“Father, when I hear ‘enjoy God,’ I mostly feel confused and a little guilty. I know how to serve and obey, but enjoying You feels vague or out of reach. I’m afraid that because I don’t feel a lot, I must not love You much. So I default to duty—I do the right things but often with a tight, distracted heart. That makes me more irritable with my family and coworkers, and I sometimes resent the demands of ministry or relationships instead of seeing them as places to walk with You.”
Prompt:
Take a moment—where do you see yourself in this? Name your honest reactions to the idea of enjoying God, and how duty-only living is shaping your tone at home, at work, and at church.
Hear
Question:
What do Scripture and the catechism say about your purpose—and how do they tie love and enjoyment to God’s love for you?
Sample answer:
“God, Your Son said, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’ (Matthew 22:37, ESV). The Westminster Shorter Catechism says my chief end is ‘to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.’ Your Word says, ‘We love because he first loved us’ (1 John 4:19, ESV). That means I was created not just to serve You at a distance, but to delight in You as the One who loved me first and drew me to Yourself.”
Prompt:
What phrase—“enjoy Him forever,” “love the Lord your God with all your heart,” “We love because He first loved us”—lands on you right now? Sit with it for a moment.
Exchange
Question (using your requested pattern):
If I really believed God’s love is personally poured into my heart and meant to be enjoyed, not just acknowledged (Romans 5:5; 1 John 4:16–19), how would that change my struggle with duty-only Christianity and my longing to experience real joy and strategic clarity in my walk with Him?
Sample answer:
“If I really believed God’s love is personally poured into my heart and meant to be enjoyed, not just acknowledged, I would stop treating joy as a bonus and start seeing it as part of what You want for me. I’d be less suspicious of delight in You and more suspicious of my impulse to run on obligation alone. I would look at my spiritual practices—Scripture, prayer, worship—and ask how they can help me see and savor Your love, not just check religious boxes. In my decisions about work, ministry, and family, I’d seek strategic clarity by asking, ‘Where will I best enjoy and reflect Your love?’ instead of only, ‘What looks most impressive or safe?’”
Prompt:
If you really believed God’s love is that personal, generous, and joy-giving, how would that change your struggle with spiritual dryness, your desire for healing from performance, and your search for clarity about what to say yes and no to right now?
Walk
Question:
What is one practical step (10 minutes or less) that helps you actively enjoy God’s love today—and helps you love someone in front of you better?
Sample answer:
“Today, I will take 10 minutes to read a short passage like Psalm 16 or Romans 5:5–8, and I will write down three specific ways You have shown Yourself faithful and kind to me lately. I’ll thank You for each, out loud. Then I’ll send one short note of encouragement to a family member or friend, naming something of Your goodness I see in them—as a way of enjoying You and sharing that enjoyment with them.”
Prompt:
What’s your next move—simple, concrete, rooted in remembering and savoring God’s love—that also blesses a real person?
Ways to Enjoy God (Not Just Work for Him)
Here’s how you can actively trust and experience God’s love—not just work harder.
1. Link the First Commandment to your chief end
Why this helps:
Seeing “love the Lord your God…” in light of “glorify God and enjoy Him forever” keeps love from shrinking into mere obligation. You remember that God commands what you were created to enjoy.
How:
- When you read Matthew 22:37, pair it with WSC Q1: “My chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”
- Pray: “Father, help me obey this command as someone made to enjoy You, not just to endure You.”
- Ask in specific moments (work, rest, worship), “How can I enjoy You here—Your character, presence, and gifts?”
Scenario:
On a walk, you consciously thank God for His creativity and kindness in creation, enjoying Him rather than just checking off “prayer time.”
What outcomes you can expect:
Love for God feels less like a tight duty and more like living into your design. Over time, joy and obedience begin to mingle more naturally.
2. Treat Scripture as a table to taste, not just a manual to master
Why this helps:
If Scripture is only a rulebook or information source, you may miss its primary gift: revealing a God to enjoy. Meditating on passages that showcase His character and love trains your heart to savor, not just study.
How:
- Choose “enjoyment passages” regularly—Psalms of delight (Psalm 16, 27, 73), John 15, Romans 5, 1 John 4.
- Ask: “What about God here is good, beautiful, and desirable?”
- Linger over one phrase and respond with simple, honest praise or thanks.
Scenario:
In Psalm 16, you camp on “in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore,” turning it into a quiet, repeated prayer of desire and gratitude.
What outcomes you can expect:
Your time in the Word becomes less rushed and more relational. Over time, affection grows, even if slowly, and you begin to look forward to meeting God there.
3. Notice and name “enjoyment moments” during the day
Why this helps:
Enjoying God is not limited to explicit “quiet times.” Recognizing His fingerprints in ordinary pleasures and graces trains you to enjoy Him in all of life.
How:
- Once or twice a day, pause and ask, “Where have I tasted God’s goodness today?”
- It could be a conversation, a meal, a solved problem, beauty, laughter, comfort in grief.
- Name it specifically: “Father, I enjoyed You in that moment when…”
Scenario:
After a surprising moment of connection with your child or teammate, you quietly say, “Thank You—that was from You,” enjoying Him as the Giver.
What outcomes you can expect:
Gratitude and awareness grow. Duty remains, but it is infused with a sense that you are walking with Someone kind and present, not just serving under inspection.
4. Let your spiritual practices include savoring, not just striving
Why this helps:
Quiet times and church can become performance zones—“Did I do enough?” Adding simple savoring practices helps your heart receive, not just produce.
How:
- In prayer, include a few moments of silence simply to be with God, not to accomplish a list.
- After reading Scripture, ask, “What do I want to thank You for here?” before moving on.
- Occasionally sing or listen to a worship song not as background noise but as a way of letting truth warm your affections.
Scenario:
After reading Romans 5:1–5, you stay a couple of minutes simply thanking God that you have peace with Him and that His love is poured into your heart, rather than rushing to the next task.
What outcomes you can expect:
Your relationship with God feels less transactional and more like an actual relationship. You start to sense His kindness in the very practices that once felt like pressure.
5. Share joy, not just needs, in prayer and community
Why this helps:
If your relationship with God (and other believers) is only about problems and tasks, enjoyment has little room to grow. Sharing joy—what you appreciate about God—deepens delight.
How:
- In prayer, include a “joy report”: one thing about God you have enjoyed recently.
- In small group or with a friend, occasionally answer, “Where have you actually enjoyed God this week?”
- Celebrate together, even in small ways.
Scenario:
You tell a friend, “This week I really enjoyed God’s patience with me in a situation where I was impatient,” and you both thank Him.
What outcomes you can expect:
Enjoyment becomes a normal part of spiritual conversation. Others are invited into joy, not just into tasks and struggles, and your community reflects more of the catechism’s “enjoy Him forever” vision.
Worship Response: Turn Gratitude into Worship
Take 30 seconds—thank God for what His love has done. Worship is responding to His finished work, even when your feelings lag behind.
Father, thank You that our chief end is not only to glorify You but also to enjoy You forever, and that You command us to love You with all our heart, soul, and mind for our joy as well as Your glory. Thank You that we love because You first loved us, and that Your love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, move this truth from head to heart so that duty becomes warmed by delight, and we learn to meditate on and taste God’s love in Christ—loving God and others better as enjoyment of Him overflows into all of life, with healing, growth, and clarity shining as fruit of Your faithful love at work.
Next Steps to Grow in God’s Love
Lasting change is always relational—God moves, we respond. Share your story, join a CHEW group, or reach out for prayer.
- “Why Everything Begins and Ends with God’s Love in Jesus” – https://1stprinciplegroup.com/why-everything-begins-and-ends-with-gods-love-in-jesus/
Explores how God’s love in Jesus is the foundation both for glorifying Him and for truly enjoying Him in daily life. - “Living the Framework: Healing, Growth, and Clarity through God’s Love” – https://1stprinciplegroup.com/living-the-framework-healing-growth-and-clarity-through-gods-love/
Shows how tasting God’s love leads to healing, joy, and courageous obedience, not just obligation. - “Heart and Mind” (category) – https://1stprinciplegroup.com/category/heart-and-mind/
Collects articles aimed at moving God’s love from head to heart so that delight and duty come together in real life.
With you on the journey,
Ryan
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