Chapter 137—Includes Love to God and Man
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.... And ... thou shalt
love thy neighbour as thyself.
Matthew 22:37-39
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The whole work of grace is one continual service of love, of self-denying,
self-sacrificing effort. During every hour of Christ’s sojourn upon the earth,
the love of God was flowing from Him in irrepressible streams. All who
are imbued with His Spirit will love as He loved. The very principle that
actuated Christ will actuate them in all their dealing one with another.
This love is the evidence of their discipleship.... When men are bound
together, not by force or self-interest, but by love, they show the working
of an influence that is above every human influence. Where this oneness
exists, it is evidence that the image of God is being restored in humanity, that
a new principle of life has been implanted. It shows that there is power in
the divine nature to withstand the supernatural agencies of evil, and that the
grace of God subdues the selfishness inherent in the natural heart.
When self is merged in Christ, love springs forth spontaneously. The
completeness of Christian character is attained when the impulse to help and
bless others springs constantly from within—when the sunshine of heaven
fills the heart and is revealed in the countenance.
It is not possible for the heart in which Christ abides to be destitute of
love. If we love God because He first loved us, we shall love all for whom
Christ died. We cannot come in touch with divinity without coming in touch
with humanity; for in Him who sits upon the throne of the universe, divinity
and humanity are combined. Connected with Christ, we are connected with
our fellow men by the golden links of the chain of love. Then the pity and
compassion of Christ will be manifest in our life.... It will be as natural for us
to minister to the needy and suffering as it was for Christ to go about doing
good.
The law of God requires that man shall love God supremely, and his
neighbor as himself. When through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, this
is perfectly done, we shall be complete in Christ.
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