Mat 10:37 He
that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that
loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Mat 19:29 And
every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or
mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an
hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
*******
'God wants us, for
love’s sake, to accept His control.
When He wishes us to love someone, we
instantly are able to; should He also desire us to terminate our relationship
with someone, we can do that too.
This is the pathway
of the cross. Only as we allow it to cut deeply so that we have our soul life
delivered to death can we be rid of self in our affections.
(Luk 14:27 And
whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.)
If we genuinely have
undergone death we will not be attached to anyone but will be guided solely by
the command of God.
(Rom_6:4
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was
raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk
in newness of life.)
Our soul life, as it
experiences death, loses its power and becomes as much as dead in the matter of
affection.
(Gal_5:24 And they that are Christ's have
crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.)
God will then direct
us how in Him to renew our love for men.
God wants us to
create in Him a new relationship with those we formerly loved.
Every natural
relationship has been terminated.
New relationships
are established through death and resurrection.
How contrary such a
course seems to Christians, and yet how blessed it is to those who so
experience it!
In order to
substantiate, for the believer’s own profit, his consecration to God, God often
“strips” him of that which he holds dear.
(Php_3:8 Yea
doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and
do count them but dung, that I may win Christ)
God endeavors either
to secure our love towards Him or to strip us of our love. When He employs the
second way He will either cause our loved ones to change their hearts towards
us or make it impossible for us to love them by setting up environmental obstacles
such as their moving or passing away. If our heart is sincere in consecration,
God will deprive us of everything so that He shall be the only One left.
To possess spiritual
life in reality we must be willing to forsake all we love.
Whatever conflicts
with our love to God, God demands us to forsake.
Spiritual life
forbids the dividing of our affection.
(Mat_6:24 No man can serve two masters: for
either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the
one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.)
Any error in our
affection—be it an error of intention or purpose or excessiveness—is judged by
God to be as wrong as an error in our hatred.
Love and hate, when
from ourselves, are equally defiled in the sight of God.
Once the believer
has passed through a purifying process he will observe how unalloyed his
affection towards men now is: no longer is self mixed in with his love: all is
for God and all is in God.
In his former
affection he loved others but loved himself more, because he esteemed his own
self more important than they. But now he is able to share the sorrow and joy
of others, to bear their burdens, and to serve them with affection. No longer
does he love what his own self loves, but loves those whom God loves; no more
does he count himself above others, but regards them as his own self. He is
today in God and loves himself as well as others for God’s sake: he can
therefore love others as his very self.' Excerpt - The Spiritual Man- By
Watchman Nee (Excerpt)
(Joh_15:17 These things I command you, that ye
love one another.)
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