Affection 443
suffering seems to have touched his heart, but its inner truth has not
affected his life.
How powerless is the suffering of the Lord in a believer’s heart
when merely mentally or emotionally conceived! In contemplating
His suffering one becomes inflated and proud, viewing himself as
loving the Lord far more than do others. He talks as though he is a
heavenly man; actually, he has not moved one breath away from his
pitiful self. He gives the impression of loving the Lord so much, and
for this reason others admire him. Even so, his love is nothing but
self-love. He thinks and talks and desires after the Lord only because
in so doing he can feel happy. His motive is for deriving pleasure and
not for the sake of the Lord. Such meditation secures to himself a
comfortable and pleasant stirring, and so he continues to meditate.
All is soulish and earthly, neither of God nor of the spirit.
What, therefore, is the distinction between spiritual love and
soulish love towards God? These two are not readily distinguishable
outwardly, but inwardly every Christian can detect the true source of
his love. As the soul is our very self so all which belongs to it cannot
draw away from self. A soulish affection is one in which self is
working. To love God for the sake of personal pleasure is carnal
love. If a love is spiritual it has no self mixed in with loving God. It
means to love God for His Own sake. Any affection which is totally
or partially for one’s own pleasure or for reasons other than for God
Himself emanates from the soul.
Another way we can distinguish the source of love is through its
results. If one’s love is soulical it does not empower him to be
delivered permanently from the world. The believer must continue to
worry and struggle to break away from the world’s attraction. Not so
with spiritual love. Here the things of the world just naturally fade
away before it. The one who participates in that kind of love despises
the world, considering its things abhorrent and abominable.
Henceforth he appears to be unable to see the world because the