A LADY became anxious about her soul. She prayed and labored earnestly to “love God.” Instead, however, of doing so, her heart seemed to get harder.
Meetings were being held in the district, and one evening the preacher said, “Some imagine that God requires people to love Him in order to be saved. They begin to examine their hearts, and they cannot find one particle of love in them to God. “If,” said he, “we were not to be saved till we loved Him, we never would be saved at all; but the blessed truth is, He loves us.” “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10.) The moment she saw that God had so loved her as to give Jesus as a propitiation for her sins, peace and joy filled her heart, and she could not help loving Him for all He had done to her.
Have you been trying to love God in order to be saved? If so, give it up. It is true you ought to love God, but so long as you are unsaved you cannot. Meditate on His love to you, and you will be able to say, “We love Him because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19.
ML 11/04/1917