I consider myself a generally tidy person. Most things in my life have a proper place and tend to be found in said place. I cannot say the same for all of my children. In fact, it would be safe to say that I spent approximately two hours a week searching alongside them for misplaced items, from cell phones to soccer socks.

However, as I was reading Scottish theologian Henry Scougal’s “The Life of God in the Soul of Man,” I realized that I am more prone to misplacement than I had imagined. And my misplacement is worse than lost wallets or keys, as I misplace love and affection that rightly belongs only the Lord himself.

Misplaced vs. Well-Placed Affection

Scougal wisely notes, “The worth and excellency of a soul is to be measured by the object of its love.” When the weight of love is placed on created things rather than the Creator, we are headed toward the dangers of misplaced affection (Rom. 1: 25). When the object of our love cannot hold the weight of such love, we will crush the relationships God intended to give us as gifts to point us back to him as both source and object of our love.

And, much worse than misplaced keys, misplaced affection warps and changes our love. When we love God chiefly, our love is ennobled and empowered, but when any other created thing slips into first place, our love becomes enslaving and enervating.

I love how Scougal captures this idea when he writes the following:

“Indeed, the nature of love is so large and unbounded that it feels extremely pinched and constrained when confined to any mere creature. Nothing less than being directed toward infinite goodness can afford it enough room to stretch itself and exert its vigor and vitality.”

Love placed on our Triune God will most assuredly pour out and down onto the ones we seek to love best on this earth. Aiming for heaven, we still soak earth. Aiming for earth, we misplace and misspend our love.

Love well-placed on the worthy one grows and unleashed our capacity to love others rightly and from the right source. As Scougal notes, “The God-directed lover has an unspeakable advantage, having placed his affection on him whose nature is love. For if God’s goodness is as infinite as his being, and his mercy saved us when we were his enemies, how can God not but choose to embrace us when we have become his friends!”

Misplaced

More common than misplaced keys,
More dangerous than a misplaced phone,
Misplaced affection, left undiagnosed,
Wreaks havoc on the human soul. 

The hunger of love is a heavy weight—|
One we must well and wisely place.
The longings of the human heart 
Belong where their beginnings trace. 

Devoted love and desperate need 
Rest easily on His broad shoulders—
But placed on any created thing,
They crush like many boulders.

Affections set on the Worthy One
Ennoble and empower the heart;
Misplaced love enslaves, ensnares,
Piecing and pulling a heart apart. 

Oh, Source and object of all love,
Gather all my misdirected affection.
Unite my heart to fear Your name,
Direct it toward Your perfection. 

With You, love is always met with love—
Its force can’t overwhelm its source.
Love that loved us while enemies
Friendship can only reinforce. 

May the Spirit convict you of misplaced love and redirect it to the Redeemer this week! In so doing, may your love stretch and strengthen as it finds and magnifies its Source and Savior!