Growing in your thinking about Jesus and the Cross will affect your living for Jesus. I suppose, after hearing a sermon like this, some might be motivated to live for Jesus because of a sense of guilt: 'Look at what pain I caused Jesus!' There may be others who will be motivated by a sense of debt: 'I need to pay Jesus back for what He's done for me.' You realize that the Scriptures call for neither of those sorts of responses. And I hope that you also realize why. In light of what Jesus accomplished on that Cross, they make no sense. How does responding out of a sense of guilt make sense when the point of the Cross is to free you from all guilt? And does anyone really think that he could pay Him back? Could anyone come close to paying a tenth of a percent of what is owed Him? Those motivations just don't fit. And sooner or later, they will cease to motivate. If you think about it, the Scriptures call for something very different from either of those responses. Instead of guilt or debt re-payment the Scriptures call for loyalty, a loyalty rooted in love. Jesus has rescued you from what you could not have rescued yourself - not in a million years. What makes sense is a love that says, 'Whatever You want, Lord, I'm ready to do it.' And we say this not out of guilt or a sense of debt, but because of love. He knows that you will stumble in keeping that promise. But making it is still a good thing. It's a place to start. It's responding to His love for you with your love for Him.
from 'The Good Shepherd'