Life Without Lack: Living in the Fullness of Psalm 23

by Dallas Willard

It is not unusual to find ourselves slipping out from under the yoke, with the self clamoring for us to do this or have that.

works. We come up against a desire and discover that we are not as willing to give it up as we imagined. This becomes an opportunity to repent and receive further instruction in humility,

God loves us, and because he loves us he delights in us, focuses upon us, relates to us, and serves us. So when we hear that a person is seeking God, it is evidence that God first loved him and has already “found” him.

We are often troubled about our faith because we are trying to have faith for a particular thing, like patience. But the faith God wants to give us is not for that thing, but for trusting him.

Death to self is submitting all your desires to God. This abandonment of the self to God is the way to experience abundance in God. It means that, in God’s hands, we are content for him to take charge of outcomes.

The more faith we have in God, the more death to self becomes the natural daily way for us.

the cross has become the most widely exhibited and recognized symbol on earth. But it is more than a symbol for us; it is a new way of living in confident fullness in God and his goodness.

It is essential to remember that Jesus did not give himself up to God in death with an attitude of resignation. He gave himself up in faith, certain that he would rise again and that the kernel of wheat that fell to the ground would bring forth abundant fruit. Death to self is abandonment to God in faith. It is laying down the satisfaction of my desires with confidence in the greatness and plenitude of God.

Faith has drawn us nearer to God and positioned us to receive his blessings. Death to self has made our life a willing receptacle for him, and now agape love flows into us like a river and out into a desperately thirsty world, completing the triangle to fulfill all that is needed for a life without lack.

Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great,

Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more,

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect.

It is not easy to consistently love our families and friends at the heart level, much less our enemies. We may be able to focus on what is good and valuable in them, but delighting in them as God delights in us is a more difficult matter.

Our aim under love is not to be loving to this or that person, or in this or that kind of situation, but to be a person possessed by love as an overall character of life.

1. Love arises in people whose lives are already marked by certain qualities of the whole self, chief of which are faith in our all-sufficient God and joyful embracing of death to self. 2. Love involves an orientation of the whole self toward what is good and right. 3. Love has amazing, supernatural power for good as it indwells the individual.

Notice here that love is not action; it is a source of action. Love is a condition out of which actions of a certain type emerge.

Such love is holistic, not something one turns on or off for this or that person or thing. Its orientation is toward life as a whole. It dwells on good wherever it may be found and supports it in action.

Remember, deeper than the fact that God loves us is this: he is love. He wills nothing but what is good. That is his identity, and it explains why he loves individuals even when he is not pleased with them or loved by them in return.

This love arises “from a pure heart”—one that is not wallowing in fantasies of sensual gratification or malice—and “from a good conscience”—one unburdened with guilt from the failure to do the good and the right—and “from sincere faith”—genuine confidence in God’s goodness and care for us, a love from which nothing can separate us.*

the goal is not to be people who do loving things but to become the kind of people who naturally, joyfully, and easily love.

Paul is not issuing commands; he is not saying that we ought to be patient, kind, humble, and so forth. He is describing love itself as having these characteristics.

we “pursue love” by advancing our faith and dying to self through appropriate training and practice, and the love we receive from God takes care of the rest.

In the deepest sense, love is not something you choose to do; it is what you become—a loving person.

When love pervades your will, all these other dimensions—your mind (with its thoughts, images and feelings, desires and emotions), your body, your social relationships, indeed your whole soul**—work in harmony with and in service to the kingdom of God, and your life becomes a testimony to the God who meets your every need.

If you look at Mohammed, or Buddha, or Confucius, or any other leaders, you will never find anyone who loved his disciples the way Jesus did.

None of these other leaders were willing to die for their disciples. And when you read their teachings, you can clearly see that Jesus was the only one living in the realm of agape love.

Only Jesus enables his followers to live a life of selfless, joyful, anxiety-free, loving service on behalf of others.

While it is good to remember that love saves us, it is equally true that love is meant to enter our lives, our bodies, and our hearts. We are to be temples of the Holy Spirit, sacred spaces in which God dwells. He is the Spirit of Love who desires to reside within us and empower us to love as he loves.

First, we must realize that we are not called to love everybody. We are called to love people,

To be sure, love is inclusive. God’s embrace is meant for all people. God loves everybody, but God has bigger arms and a bigger heart than we do.

We are called to love our neighbor.

You are called to love those who are neigh thee—your family, your friends, your coworkers, the folks in your neighborhood, and, yes, even the “enemies” in your life, the ones who irritate, demean, frustrate, and mistreat you.

Who are you going to choose for your experiment in love? You will likely do better if you begin with people who are not your closest friends and family. Of course, God may have gifted you such that you truly do love those who are close to you. But perhaps these are the relationships you find the most difficult, and you need to start elsewhere.

realities of that concrete relationship. Ask God to show you something in this person that is good and for which you can be thankful. Let the Lord show you a good thing about them, and then love them by being thankful for them. It is likely that you will want to do something for the person for whom you are thankful.

Parents often have hard times with their children because, if mine are anything representative, they do not always do what we believe they should do.

we begin by asking God to help us delight in them, focus on what is good for them, and celebrate what is valuable within them.

Faith feeds death to self, death to self feeds love, love feeds faith, and on it gloriously goes.

What is our part in dwelling with the Lord and living our days in such a way that goodness and mercy follow us in our wake?

make plans to spend a day with Jesus. This will not be a day where you go away alone with him on a retreat; this will be a day when you invite him to stay with you throughout a normal “day in the life of [insert your name here].”

The life without lack flows out of our relationship with him. Our challenge is to stay with him in the increasing belief that God truly desires to be with us. God wants to be with me.

The freedom from the frantic desire to have is grounded in God’s promise to never leave us.

All journeys require preparation.

We want our journey to be both pleasant and successful, so we do our best to be prepared ahead of time. It is the same with spending a day with Jesus. We need to prepare for it beforehand.

The pressing question for each of us is this: “How can I be with him as I go?” What is it we can do in the ordinary days of our lives so we might experience the Twenty-Third Psalm presence of the Shepherd throughout the day?

God reveals himself, but in a way that allows him to be hidden to all but those who resolutely seek him (Jer. 29:13).

We are the ones who wander, who flee, who often would rather be anywhere but in the presence of God.

Many regard Jesus as necessary, but not desirable; necessary for salvation, but not desirable as a friend and teacher. You should ask yourself, “Am I really enthralled with Jesus or only prepared to put up with him?” Your answer may not be as holy as you would like it to be, but you must not attempt to fake it.

God already knows your answer, and the level of your desire for Jesus to be with you has no bearing on how much he loves you.

Fact 1: It is okay to be who you are wherever you are. We must begin with the fact that God accepts us as we are wherever we are, so that we can then accept ourselves.

God isn’t afraid to meet us where we are, even to the very depths of Sheol (Ps. 86:13).