Love Beyond Emotion, Faithfulness in the Covenant

Faithful in the Darkness, A covenant flame held steady, lighting the way when feelings fade. Love remains. Chesed endures forever.

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”— Deuteronomy 6:5

In a world that worships fleeting feelings, Scripture calls us to something deeper, firmer, and far more enduring: His New Covenant Love. This Love is not primarily emotional, though emotion may be present; it is not romantic, though emotions of the heart may arise. It is loyal. It is rooted. It is active.

“You shall love the LORD your God…” This command is not an invitation to feel affection toward Elohim when it is convenient. It is a summons to orient the entirety of one’s being—heart, soul, and strength—toward Him in unbroken devotion. Love in the biblical sense is not about how we feel, but how we remain. How we obey. How we endure.

This kind of love is best understood within covenantal relationships. Marriage, as a covenant, is not held together by emotion, though emotion plays its part. It is sustained by faithfulness. Forty-two years of covenant marriage has taught me what Hollywood never could: that love matures through difficulty, is tested in silence, and finds its strength in self-giving. There are days when the warm glow of affection seems distant. But love—true love—remains. It washes dishes. It shows up. It listens. It forgives. It grows.

Likewise, in our spiritual covenant with YHWH, there are seasons when we do not feel the fire. The music doesn’t stir the soul. The heavens feel silent. The prayers echo back unanswered. In these moments, the absence of emotion becomes the proving ground of covenant. Faith steps in where feelings have faded. Loyalty rises where passion wanes.

We often confuse emotional intimacy with spiritual intimacy. But YHWH is not seeking emotional highs from us; He seeks our hearts—whole, undivided, consistent. As the Ten Words were written on tablets of stone, they are now written on hearts of flesh (Jeremiah 31:33). That inscription is not erased when our emotions ebb. It remains. It testifies. And it calls us back, again and again, to faithful obedience.

Yeshua demonstrated this kind of love. In Gethsemane, sorrowful unto death, sweating drops of blood, He did not feel peace—but He chose obedience: “Not My will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42). This is the apex of covenant faithfulness. It is what Paul describes in Philippians 2—Messiah’s humility, His obedience unto death, even death on a cross. No thrill of emotion accompanied the nails. But love held Him there.

This is the love we are called to imitate. A love that acts. A love that gives. A love that remains. The Shema—“Hear, O Israel…”—commands not sentimentality but loyalty. We are to love YHWH with every fiber of our being—even when we feel nothing. That is the kind of love that shines in the darkness and reflects the covenant heart of our Redeemer.

There is a profound holiness in simply staying faithful. In waking up when the alarm sounds and saying, “Yes, Lord.” In doing the unseen work, in giving without thanks, in praying when it feels dry, in studying when it feels rote. There is worship in the ordinary, when offered in covenant love.

Psalm 136 repeats, line after line, “For His chesed endures forever.” Chesed—that Hebrew word so rich it cannot be translated by one English word alone—speaks of steadfast love, loyal kindness, covenant mercy. This is the love YHWH shows to us. And this is the love He calls forth from us. Not the love of mood swings and goosebumps, but the love that stays when it would be easier to leave. The love that obeys when it would be easier to drift. The love that remembers when it would be easier to forget.

Our love for Elohim is not proven by the heights of our joy but by the depth of our fidelity.

The question is not whether we feel love for Him today. The question is whether we will walk in His ways. Whether we will remember His covenant. Whether we will do what pleases Him, especially when it costs us something. Especially when no one sees. Especially when the emotions are absent.

This is the love that YHWH honors. This is the love that reflects His own. And this is the love that will endure, not only for 42 years of marriage, but into eternity.

Abba YHWH,Covenant Keeper, Faithful One, I come before You with a heart that is not always aflame. My emotions rise and fall, but I long for my love to be steadfast like Yours. Teach me to love You not with momentary feeling but with enduring faithfulness. Write Your commandments deeply on my heart. Let me not forget them when the music fades or the sky feels silent.Just as You loved me with unwavering loyalty, help me to return that love in obedience and trust. Train my hands for service, my lips for praise, and my heart for loyalty. Let me walk in Your ways even when I do not feel Your presence, for I know You are near.Bless the covenant You have made with me in Messiah. Strengthen my faith. Deepen my roots. May I be like a tree planted by living waters, faithful in season and out of season. Let this relationship reflect Your faithfulness more and more each day. Let it be a testimony of grace, not perfection; of perseverance, not passion alone.May my life—every unseen hour and uncelebrated act, be a declaration of love that remains. For Your glory. In Yeshua’s Name. Amen.