Love to Christ by Tholuck

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 8, 1858

Love to Christ

By Tholuck

Not only the flowers unfold their petals to receive the light—the heart of man also has a power of expansion. It is love which opens it and expands it, so that the rays of the spiritual sun may penetrate and illumine it. The christian, in the work of self-examination, need not direct his attention to many points; it is included in the daily question—How is it with my love to Christ? That love to him is of great importance, we must confess, since he, in truth, requires of us an affection for his own person, such as no one else ever claimed. O thou must be more than father and mother, than brother and sister, else how couldst thou, the lowliest among the children of men, lay claim to such superabundant love? Since I have believed in thy word, all my desire has been to love thee. I will not cease to love thee, until thou art dearer to me than father, mother, and brother! If they deny thee, if they revile thee—what is so dreadful as to see one's father and mother reviled at our side—but more than when they reproach father and mother, shall thy reproaches, thy wrongs go to my heart.—Tholuck.