Because believers do not allow the Lord to be Lord over their love, God's work is hindered. How many parents love their children so much that they hold back their children and cause God's kingdom to suffer loss! Many couples are so attached to each other that there is a shortage of labor for the plenteous harvest! Many believers are reluctant to part with their friends, so they remain behind while their brother fights alone at the front. It is very pitiful that some believers think they can love their loved ones and the Lord at the same time. They do not realize that if they love their loved ones, they cannot love the Lord; and if they love the Lord, they cannot love their loved ones. If we cannot say with Asaph, "Whom do I have in heaven but You?/And besides You there is nothing I desire on earth," then we are still living in our soul (Psa. 73:25).

We cannot neglect the importance of the believer loving the Lord with all his heart. Nothing satisfies the Lord's heart as much as our love. The Lord does not look at how much we work for Him or how active we are for Him. It pleases Him when He sees us loving Him. The church in Ephesus labored for the Lord; nevertheless, they left their first love toward Him (Rev. 2). Therefore, the Lord was not pleased. The Lord is pleased only if we work out of our love for Him. If we have no heart for Christ, if we are not affectionate toward Him and do not love Him, even though we may accomplish a great deal for Him outwardly, what use is it? We should know that it is possible for us to labor for the Lord and not love Him. This was the case of the Ephesians. May we ask God to shine His light that we may see the reason for our activities and the intensity of our love towards Him. What is the use if we keep saying, "Lord," and labor for Him all day, yet do not love Him in our heart? Oh, may we have an absolute heart for our beloved Lord!

God's children do not realize what a hindrance their loved ones can be to the growth of their spiritual life. When a believer has other loves besides God, he will find out that God gradually becomes less important to him. Although his loved ones may also love God, he will perhaps love God for the sake of his loved ones more than for the sake of God Himself. His relationship with God is lowered from being spiritual to being fleshly. We surely cannot love God for the sake of some persons, matters, or things. We can only love God for His sake. If a believer loves God for the sake of his loved ones, his heart is directed by those whom he loves. God can gain his love only as a beneficiary of his loved ones. If his loved ones can influence him to love God today, they can also influence him to lose his love for God in the future.

Moreover, when we incline our heart toward a certain person, it is very difficult for us to keep our heart calm. Rather, we are under the influence of our emotions, trying ardently to please this person. At this time, we probably have less of an interest in drawing near to God than we do of drawing near to the loved one. Our interest in spiritual things, things relating to the intuition, will be greatly reduced. Perhaps there is no outward change, but our heart lingers beside the one we love. In this kind of condition, our interest in spiritual things, if not completely gone, is greatly diminished. Then we will not be able to keep our heart from loving the vanities of the world because we can please our loved ones with them. Worldly things, beauty, glory, and many other things unworthy of mention will gradually become the object of our seeking so that we might please our loved ones. God and His requirements will then be forgotten and ignored. We should realize that we can love only one person and serve one master. If we love man, we cannot love God. Therefore, any secret relationship that we may have with a person must be severed.