OUR LOVE FOR GOD

    By A. W. Tozer

    Let us not love in word, neither in tongue;
    but in deed and in truth.  --1John 3:18

        The taking over of the romantic love ideal into our
    relation to  God  has  been  extremely  injurious  to
    our Christian lives. The idea that we should "fall in love"
    with God is ignoble, unscriptural, unworthy of us and
    certainly does no honor to the Most High God!

        We do not come to love God by a sudden emotional
    visitation. Love for God  results from repentance,
    amendment of life and a fixed determination to love Him.
    Then as God moves more perfectly into the focus of our
    hearts, our love for Him may indeed rise and swell within
    us till like a flood it sweeps everything before it.

        But we should not wait for this intensity of feeling. We are
    not responsible to feel, but we are responsible to love, and
    true spiritual love begins in the will.  We should set our
    hearts to love God supremely, however cold or hard they
    may seem to be, and go on to confirm our love by happy
    and careful obedience to His Word.

        Enjoyable emotions are sure to follow!

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    Yours in Christ,
    Paul N. F.