The Christian’s Debt of Love

Clearly, God is to be loved, and He has a rightful claim to our love. However, the unbeliever does not acknowledge the Son of God, and therefore cannot know the Father or the Holy Spirit; for “he who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him,” nor the Spirit whom He has sent (John 5:23). They know less of God than we do; it’s no surprise they love God less. At the very least, they understand that they owe their existence to their Creator. But how is it with me? I know that my God is not just the generous Giver of my life, the Provider for all my needs, the compassionate Comforter of all my sorrows, and the wise Guide for my path—but He is far more than all that. He saves me with abundant deliverance; He is my eternal Protector, the portion of my inheritance, my glory. As it is written, “With Him is abundant redemption” (Ps. 130:7); and again, “He entered once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us” (Heb. 9:12). Of His salvation it is said, “He does not forsake His saints; they are preserved forever” (Ps. 37:28); and of His generosity, “Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap” (Luke 6:38); and in another place, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9). 

He will glorify us, just as the apostle testifies, “We look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body” (Phil. 3:20-21); and again, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18); and again, “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen” (2 Cor. 4:17-18).

“What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me?” (Ps. 116:12). Reason and natural justice both move me to give myself wholly in love to Him, to whom I owe everything I have and am. But faith shows me that I should love Him far more than I love myself, as I realize that He has given me not only my life but even Himself. Yet, even before the full revelation had come—before the Word was made flesh, before He died on the Cross, rose from the grave, and returned to the Father—before God demonstrated His love for us through all this abundance of grace, the commandment had already been given: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deut. 6:5)—that is, with all your being, all your knowledge, and all your might. And it was just for God to claim this from His own creation and gifts. Why shouldn’t the creature love the Creator, who gave him the power to love in the first place? Why shouldn’t we love Him with all our being, since it is by His gift that we can do any good at all?

It was God’s creative grace that raised us from nothingness to the dignity of being human, and from this, we can see our duty to love Him and the justice of His claim to that love. But we see how infinitely greater He has blessed us when we remember how He fulfilled His promise, “You, Lord, will save both man and beast: how excellent is Your mercy, O Lord!” (Ps. 36:6-7). For we, who “exchanged our glory for the image of a bull that eats grass” (Ps. 106:20), debased ourselves by our evil deeds, becoming like the beasts that perish.

I owe all that I am to the One who made me, but how can I repay my debt to Him who redeemed me—and in such a wondrous way? Creation was not as vast a work as redemption; for it is written of man and all things created, “He spoke, and they were made” (Ps. 148:5). But to redeem that creation, which sprang into being by His word—how much He spoke, what wonders He performed, what hardships He endured, and what shame He suffered!

Therefore, what shall I give back to the Lord for all the benefits He has done for me? In the first creation, He gave me myself; but in His new creation, He gave me Himself, and by that gift restored to me the self that I had lost. Created first and then restored, I owe Him myself twice over in return for myself. But what can I offer Him in return for the gift of Himself? Even if I could multiply myself a thousand times and offer all of it to Him, what would that be compared to God?



English word choice and phrasing lightly updated.
Public domain – accessed December 2023, https://www.ccel.org/ccel/bernard/loving_god.toc.html

Scroll to top