Mills, M.A. Glad, when Thy gracious smile we see, God, as the source of all goodness, is the source of our ability and disposition to love others…. By doing so, he describes four degrees of love. When will my soul, inebriated with divine love, learn to be unconsciously self-forgetful, and simply be a broken vessel (Psalm 31:12)? CLICK TO DONATEto Reasons for Hope*Jesus(a 501c3 Ministry)Use a Credit Card or PayPal for safe, secure giving. Here are my two favorites: Jesus, the very thought of Thee I love myself for God’s sake. Just as a little drop of water mixed with a lot of wine seems to entirely lose its own identity as it takes on the taste and color of the wine; just as iron, heated and glowing, looks very much like fire, having lost its original appearance; just as air flooded with the light of the sun is transformed into the same splendor of the light so that it appears to be light itself, so is life for those who melt away from themselves and are entirely transfused into the will of God. With sweetness fills my breast; Will you look to God to meet your needs? 3. he may mean, What is lovely in God? However, if we are to love our neighbor with absolute righteousness, we need to acknowledge God as our motive and cause. When we live free from travel we are happy, but in our pride we may conclude that we are responsible for security. Christian Version of Leonard Cohen's HALLELUJAHMemorial Day BAGPIPES TRIBUTE: Amazing GraceRISE AND SHINE and Give God the Glory, Glory! Thank you to all who contributed in 2020. FIRST DEGREE: WHEN WE LOVE OURSELVES FOR OUR OWN SAKE (CARNAL LOVE)Carnal love is a love which we should direct to God, but which we have degraded to a love of self. How can we be mindful of mercy when the justice of God alone will be remembered? . And thirst our souls from thee to fill! For until then the soul is restricted in the body, bound at least to it by the natural affections, of not also still vitally connected by physical sense…. And you cannot love your neighbor unless you love God. by Reasons for Hope* Jesus | Feb 10, 2020. And how much does He love us? This is the infant, nursing at his mother’s breast, ecstatic in the warmth of being held and filled, but unaware of … Thus, we begin to love God not merely for our own sake but for Himself. But if trials and tribulations continue to come upon us, every time God brings us through, even if our hearts were made of stone, we will begin to be softened because of the grace of the rescuer. I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder. No one deserves our love more. And thru eternity. And why should God be loved for His own sake? Thou savest those that on Thee call; Their words strengthen our souls, equip our minds, encourage our hearts, and empower us to stand firm in our faith and be motivated, ready, and willing to share the hope we have in Jesus. God must be loved first in order that we may love our neighbor in God. In either case, the same sufficient cause of love exists, namely, God Himself. Such experiences are rare and come only for a moment. Bernard’s devotional classic, The Love of God, explains what divine love is how we grow and develop in the perfect love of God which has come to us in Jesus Christ. These are the ancient words of Bernard of Clairvaux (1090 – 1153), a great lover of God and considered the last of the Church Fathers. “Bernard of Clairvaux understood what it means to be a friend to oneself. Psalm 79:9 . In three romances Yvain, Lancelot, and Perceval, Chrétien de Troyes utilizes the intimate relationships of his courtly knights and their lady loves to explore and present the Christian ideology of Bernard of Clairvaux as expressed by his four degrees of love in the treatise, On Loving God. He contended that “loving self for God’s sake” is the most mature, deepest kind of love. But during those moments we will be of one mind with God and our wills in one accord with God. “God is love… Love comes from God…” (1 John 4.) But it is within God’s power to give such an experience to whom he wills, and it is not attained by our own efforts. By such continual dependence, we learn to enjoy God’s presence. Simply because no one could be more justly loved than God. Only three years later he was appointed to supervise a group of monks in the newly founded monastery at Clairvaux and he remained there until his death. Then you will not find it a burden to share with your neighbor what you have held back from your enemy [of your selfish passions]… So what could readily be a selfish love can become truly social when it can extend to include others. We have obtained this degree when we can say, “give praise to the Lord for He is good, not because He is good to me, but because He is good.” Thus we truly love God for God’s sake and not our own. Then they will love themselves only in God! Where was that? And why should God be loved for His own sake? And who is God? Shed o’er the world thy holy light! His writings on the degrees of love make sense even for our present day culture. You can be as indulgent as you like about yourself, provided you shows the same indulgence with your neighbors. What are the Doctrines of Imputed, Infused, and Imparted Righteousness? If you heed the counsel of the wise, you will turn away from your own appetites and discipline yourself (Proverbs 13:18). I am of the opinion that this is what the prophet meant when he said: “I will enter into the power of the Lord: Lord I will be mindful of that justice alone.” He felt, certainly, that when he entered into the spiritual powers of the Lord he would have laid aside self and his whole being would, in the spirit, be mindful of the justice of the Lord alone. O hope of every contrite heart, Bernard’s words had a profound influence on Martin Luther and John Calvin. Like the Samaritans, we are to respond that we know His goodness, not because we were told about it, but we have experienced it for ourselves (John 4:42). ©2021 All Rights Reserved. We need your help to keep our site ad-free. Reasons for Hope* Jesus, Yes, send me answers to interesting and challenging questions about Jesus and the Bible. Let us restrain our own self-love if we would avoid becoming transgressors. Please support Reasons for Hope* Jesus with a donation of $5, $10, $20, or more. Why is Prayer Important? How good to those who seek! Blessed and holy is the one who has been privileged, even if only momentarily in this life, to taste of this love. So too we tell our flesh, “we love God, not because of your needs, for we have tasted and known for ourselves the sweetness of the Lord” (see Psalm 34:8)…. Scripture Cookies – Fun for the Whole Family! What Do We Know about Judas? Will this one then not be forced to love God — not selfishly — but because God is God?…. Know, live, and the Arts dependence, we begin to seek God for unfailing. Pride we may love our neighbor with absolute righteousness, we ’ ll send you we will begin seek. Loved for his own sake our newsletter, we learn to enjoy God ’ own. Bad, will retain only the good joy of the great leaders in the church, 1882 to soul. 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