“For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.” Galatians 2:19-21 CSB https://bible.com/bible/1713/gal.2.19-21.CSB

Loving God and pleasing God is not a matter of duty but love. The Bible repeatedly uses the metaphor of marriage to describe what our relationship with God is to look like. A healthy marriage is bound by love. There is no law that a list of duties employed keeps it healthy and growing. The law does not keep marriages together but determines how to deconstruct them. Religion and rules do not keep us with the One True God but often take us away from Him because we think only of our duties rather than our love for the One to whom we serve. Serving a beloved spouse is not a duty, nor driven by rules to keep. Serving a beloved spouse is driven by love. Joy is found in losing ourselves for the one we love because we desire the beloved’s benefit. Is this how we feel about God? Is this our reason for attending church with His people, joining others in love with God, growing ever more in demonstrating our love for God, and sharing the joy of our beloved with our neighbors? Dying to self to serve the interest of our love is easy when love for our beloved is greater than love for ourselves. Is this true of our love for God? Is it greater than love for ourselves? To truly love God, this is the only law required: I love God more than myself by denying myself and dying to myself so that I can love the Great Lover with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. This is what my relationship with God is to look like and not some conformity to religious duty.