Do Not Seek Love

Do Not Seek Love

Be very watchful so that no one breaks into your house, that is, into your heart, and steals what you have received from God. See Matthew 24:43. You must bring that which is holy out of the house, but let no one steal it from the house. Thieves are all those who do not receive but rath­er give you something that makes no allowance for the cross. They steal by giving, and that is the most dangerous kind of thief, because they come clothed in the mantle of mercy and love and in the name of Christ. But they do not have the cross. They come to give and to seek love as a reward. We find such people in Jeremiah 2:33 where we read, “How well you prepare your way to seek love. Therefore you have also gone to do evil.” In verse 32 we read, “Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire?” Those who seek love always adorn themselves with the most attractive things; therefore they also go to do evil—because you cannot seek the others’ love without pleasing them. More often than not it appears to be love to seek the others’ love, but the Scriptures state the opposite. The one who seeks love cares for himself; the one who gives in love cares for the others. We cannot give love, but we can give in love. This is what is written about God: “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son . . . .” 1 John 4:9. In addition to this, we can read in Hosea 10:12: “Sow for your­selves a seed in righteousness, reap in love.” For God has thus sown a seed in righteousness by giving His Son, Jesus Christ the Righteous, who had to go into the ground and die like a grain of wheat. Thus He secured for Himself a harvest of love, as it is written: “We love Him because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19. Accord­ing to this, what we have to do is sow righteousness in word and deed. And when we in our sojourn through life sow righteousness without seek­ing love, these righteous words will begin to grow in people’s hearts. Je­sus speaks about this when He says, “Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” When such souls receive the righteous words you have sown, it will produce a desire for love—a love that desires to grow on the ba­sis of purity and righteousness. We shall not seek love; we shall not even awaken it until it desires. In Song of Solomon we find this expressed so strongly that we read, “I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the does of the field, do not stir up nor awaken love until it pleases.” S. of Sol. 2:7.

Therefore, never seek love. We will only do it when we want the others to serve us. Sow righteous­ness, and love will grow for Him who gave the seed, and for you who sowed this seed. When love begins to grow from righteousness its desire is to unfold into greater abundance; then you can nurture it, but only if you sow even more seeds of righ­teousness—the word of the cross. When impurity is removed the only thing that is left is love. Therefore, love will unfold to the same degree that unrighteousness is removed, and the bonds that bind the members together will increase and become stronger to the same degree. Only impurity can break the bonds of love, and only righteousness can produce it. No amount of work in springtime can produce such a harvest as sowing righteousness—the Word of truth.

The shepherds in God’s assembly who sow righteousness will harvest love—oneness in spirit, in life, in word; the shepherds that seek love will harvest impurity, division, and bitterness. Seek and you will find the truth of these words among God’s children. The shepherds that sow righteousness will reap the love of the sheep, which is the fruit of the shepherd’s sacrificial life. The deeper their righteousness goes, the deeper they can lead others into it, and the greater will be the love they will reap—not only for themselves, but they will also see it among the sheep.

Those who seek the love of the sheep will speak much about love but little about righteousness, be­cause they can only seek their love without the cross. They will speak about love, and they will also appear as their benefactors in deed, but ac­cording to Jesus’ word, “Those who exercise authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’” Luke 22:25. Those who seek love want to have authority; therefore they appear as benefactors. Often they will succeed in their endeavor because they leave it to each of them to seek love accord­ing to their heart’s desire wherever they can find it—as the shepherd, so the sheep. At first glance the external glitter of this love has such a beautiful appearance; they are seemingly each other’s benefactors. They also misuse the Scriptures as a cover: “Love covers a multitude of sins.” Yes, this is also the reason we find a multitude of sins and im­purity under this kind of love. True love sows righteousness by which unrighteousness is removed. This is how pure love covers a multitude of sins, but only in the death of Christ. Be vigilant when it concerns those who seek love and who appear as benefactors, for they are the ones who feed only themselves and are spots at love feasts; they are the ones who break in and steal. “But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.” Matt. 24:43. All those who tone down the truth make an unrighteous way for themselves in order to seek love.