440 The Spiritual Man
desire to draw near to God will be less than the desire to draw near to
the loved one. In such a case the Christian will doubtlessly exhibit
diminished interest in spiritual affairs. Outwardly nothing seems
changed: inwardly though his heart is entangled with his dear one.
Spiritual interest, if not totally lost, is surely greatly decreased.
Furthermore, the Christian’s aspiration for the vainglory of this
world is excited beyond restraint. In order to obtain the attention of
his loved one he will seek to impress that one with the things,
fashion, beauty, glory, and other aspects of the world. God and His
demands go by the board. Be it therefore known that man can love
but one person and serve but one master at a time: if he loves man,
he cannot love God. We must sever all secret relationships with man.
Actually, only God can satisfy a Christian’s heart; man cannot.
The failure of many is to seek from man what can be found only in
God. All human affection is empty; the love of God alone is able to
fully satisfy one’s desire. The moment a Christian seeks a love
outside God his spiritual life immediately falls. We can only live by
the love of God.
What then? Does this indicate we need not love man? The Bible
repeatedly charges us to love the brethren and even to love our
enemies. Accordingly we know it is not God’s will we should not
love man, but He does desire to manage our affection towards all
men. God does not want us to love others for our sake but to love for
His sake and in Him. Our natural likes and dislikes do not have any
part here; natural affection must lose its power. 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. If we genuinely have undergone death we will not
be attached to anyone but will be guided solely by the command of