On Loving God

Bernard of Clairvaux
 BE UNITED IN CHRIST BOOK SUMMARY

Book Summary: On Loving God

Copyright © 2016 by Be United in Christ Outreach Ministry

This material is summarized from the public domain version of Bernard of Clairvaux’s
On the Love of God. Translated by Marianne Caroline and Coventry Patmore.
Second edition. London: Burns and Oates, 1884. This public domain version is hosted
by the HathiTrust Digital Library ([Link]). This translation has been altered
in places to make it more understandable for modern readers.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®.
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from the ESV ® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard
Version®). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2011.

This book summary was developed and distributed by the Be United in Christ Outreach Ministry for
use in your personal life and ministry. It is our desire for you to use, reproduce, and distribute this
material free of charge. Our only restrictions are that you do not alter the book summary content in
any way, that you do not sell the book summary content for profit, and that you attribute the work to
the Be United in Christ Outreach Ministry.

Please visit [Link] for other Bible-based resources.

Be United in Christ

Book Summary

On Loving God

Bernard of Clairvaux

[Link]
 On Loving God – Bernard of Clairvaux

Author
Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153) is respected by Protestants and Roman Catholics alike. Martin
Luther considered Bernard “the greatest of all the fathers of the church after Augustine,”1 and he
was “one of Calvin’s favorite medieval writers.”2 The Roman Catholic Church honors Bernard as
both a “Doctor of the Church” and a saint, and the Italian poet Dante used Bernard as his guide in
the Divine Comedy to lead him into the very presence of God (Paradiso, Canto 31). Nicknamed
“the Honey-tongued Doctor” for his eloquence, he is widely attributed with writing the words to
the classic hymn, “O Sacred Head Now Wounded.” Though less familiar today, Bernard clearly
deserves to be read.

Bernard was born into a noble family in Burgundy, France, but renounced his privileged upbringing
to become a monk. Just three years later he established a monastery at Clairvaux, from which he
founded sixty-eight other monasteries. Bernard was one of the most influential men of his age. He
rallied support for the Second Crusade, wrote the monastic rule for the Knights Templar, intervened
in theological controversies, and helped resolve a disputed election for the pope. He was also a
prolific and popular author. His more than 3,500 pages of writings include The Steps of Humility
and Pride and The Book of Consideration, a collection of pastoral advice offered at the request
of the Bishop of Rome, who had been a former student of his. Bernard died at his monastery in
Clairvaux on August 20, 1153.

Overview
Bernard wrote On Loving God sometime between 1125–1141 in response to a request from a
cardinal in Rome. “You wish me to explain for what reason and in what measure we should love
God. I should say that God Himself is the motive of our love to Him, and that the measure of love
due Him is to be without measure.” In other words, why should God be loved, and how much?
Bernard answers that God should be loved for Himself and without limits. He explains his response
in eleven chapters divided into two parts that correspond to the cardinal’s two questions.

Part 1: Why God should be loved (Chapters 1–7)

A. God should be loved because no one is more deserving (1–6)
B. God should be loved because no one is more rewarding (7)
Part 2: How God should be loved (Chapters 8–10)
A. Loving self for self’s sake (8)
B. Loving God for self’s sake (9)
C. Loving God for God’s sake (9)
D. Loving self for God’s sake (10)
Conclusion: The perfection of love (Chapter 11)

1
Theo M. M. A. C. Bell, “Luther’s Reception of Bernard of Clairvaux,” Concordia Theological Quarterly 59:4
(October 1995), 267.
2
Anthony N. S. Lane, John Calvin Student of the Church Fathers (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1999), 115.

4
 Be United in Christ

Part 1: Why God Should Be Loved (Chapters 1–7)

People want reasons to love God, and so Bernard offers two: “Nothing is more reasonable and
nothing is more profitable.” In both cases, God Himself is the reason why He should be loved, for
no one is more deserving of our love than God, and no one is more rewarding of our love than God.

God Should Be Loved Because No One Is More Deserving (1–6)

God deserves to be loved because He first loves us (1)
Ultimately, God is entitled to our love because He gave us His love. As the apostle John wrote, “We
love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). The obligation to return God’s love is especially
binding given the worth of the Lover, the unworthiness of the loved, and the extravagance of the
love. “This gives Him a right to our love in return; above all, considering who He is that loves,
what His loved ones are, and in what way He loves them.” When one considers the glory of God,
the wretchedness of man, and the sacrifice of the Son to save sinners (Romans 5:8), it becomes
undeniable that God is entirely deserving of our love. “These are the claims which God, the holy,
the sovereignly great and Almighty, has upon the love of little, weak, and sinful man.”

God deserves to be loved even by non-believers (2)

Christians must love God because of Christ, but non-believers are also obligated to love God
because of the “goods beyond number with which He enriches soul and body.” Of the many physical
blessings God provides, Bernard mentions three. “Is it not from Him that man receives the bread
which sustains, the light which enlightens him, and the air which he breathes?” These may not be
the greatest of God’s material blessings, “but they are the most necessary.” Every bite, every blink,
and every breath should remind a person that food, sight, breathing, and every bodily blessing are
gifts from a good and gracious God who should be gratefully loved in return.

Far greater than the riches God gives the body are the spiritual riches He gives to the soul. Once again
Bernard offers three examples. “For our chief goods we must look into the soul, the superior part of
our being. Those goods are excellence, intelligence, and virtue.” By “excellence” Bernard means
free will, which sets man above the animals. “Intelligence” is reason, by which man recognizes his
superiority to the animals and that this did not come from himself. “Virtue” makes men seek the
source of these blessings and, once he finds his Creator, cling to Him in love. The dignity God gives
to those He made in His image deserves repayment in love.

Bernard’s point is to “prove that they who do not know Christ, even they, are sufficiently taught by
the natural law, and by the gifts they possess of body and soul, to love God for God’s own sake.”
God then deserves to be loved for Himself, even based on the knowledge of the unbeliever who is
ignorant of Christ. He who does not love the Lord his God with all his heart and soul and strength is
without excuse, for his natural sense of justice and reason cry out from the depth of his soul that he is
bound to love Him wholly who gave him everything he has.

If non-believers are obligated to love God as their Creator, how much more must believers love God
as their Savior!

5
 On Loving God – Bernard of Clairvaux

God deserves to be loved especially by believers (3–6)

Because the church knows Christ, she feels pangs of love for God that non-believers do not.
She sees the only-begotten Son of the Father staggering under the weight of the cross; the God of all
majesty discolored by blows, covered with spit; the author of life and of glory hung upon nails, pierced
with a lance and reviled, giving His dear soul for His friends. Gazing on this she feels the sword of love
pierce through her heart.
Using language from the Song of Solomon, Bernard encourages Christians to meditate on Christ’s
crucifixion as a way to foster intimacy with God. Solomon’s bride prepared her chamber to attract
her groom, and the church, the bride of Christ, should do the same. “If we desire that Christ should
come to us and abide in us, we must fill our hearts full of the thoughts of His death and resurrection
and of the faithful recollection of the mercy and the power of which by them He has given us proof.”
Not everyone, though, finds the cross of Christ comforting. “It is impossible … to labor for this
world’s riches and also to delight in the cross of our Savior Jesus Christ, at the same time to desire
and labor for earthly things and to taste the sweetness of our Lord.” Those who truly value the
gospel, however, will long to love better the God who loves them so well. In love, the Father sent
His one and only Son (John 3:16). In love, the Son “poured out His soul unto death” (Isaiah 53:12).
In love, the Spirit teaches what the Son taught (John 14:26). “Hereby we see that God loves us, and
loves us with His whole being. For the blessed Trinity altogether loves us, if we dare to say this of
the infinite, incomprehensible being who is one and indivisible.”
“All that has been said proves most clearly the duty of loving God, and His claim upon our love.”
The non-believer should love God because he knows “that to Him who created him, he owes
himself entirely.” The believer lies under an even heavier obligation to love, for he knows the God
of the gospel. “I know that God made me without any merit of mine, that He satisfies all my wants,
comforts me with pity, and governs me with attentive care. Not only so, but I know, besides, that He
is my redeemer, the author of my eternal salvation, my treasure and my glory.”
Bernard eloquently summarizes his argument thus far:
For all of this, what shall I give to the Lord? Both reason and the law of nature bind me fast to give
myself undividedly to Him from whom I possess all that I have, and to devote my entire being to the
love of Him. And faith reveals to me that I am constrained to love Him more than myself. I owe to His
gracious generosity not only all I am, but moreover the gift of Himself. But let us consider the time
before the day of Christian faith had come, before God had put on our flesh and died upon the cross,
gone down into Hell and ascended to the Father, that is, before the fullness of His love for us had shone
forth. Long before Christ, man had been commanded to love the Lord his God with all his heart, with
all his soul, with all his strength, that is, with his whole being, with all the love of which he is capable,
as a creature blessed with intelligence and will. Could it be unjust of God to claim for Himself His own
creation and His gifts? Why should not the creation love God who made it, having received the power to
love? Why should it not love Him with all its powers, if it is only by God that it possesses any? Consider,
too, that man has not only been called into being out of nothing, without any previous claim, but also
that he has been so called to be raised to high dignity. Thus, we should see more clearly our obligation
to love Him wholly, and His right to our love.

6
 Be United in Christ

Moreover, when man had sunk to the level of the beasts that perish, did God not intervene to reinstate
and save him? Is not this the marvel of His goodness and His mercy? For by sin we had fallen from the
dignity of our creation to become beasts like the ox that eats grass and has not the light of reason. If I
owe my whole self to my creator, what do I not owe to my redeemer, and to such a redeemer! It was
a far less work to create than to redeem, for God had but to speak the word and all things were made.
But to repair the fall of that, which one word had created, what wonders did He have to perform, what
cruelties, no, what humiliations, did He have to suffer! What, therefore, shall I give to the Lord for all
that He has done for me! By creating, He gave me to myself; but He restored me to myself when He
gave Himself to me. First given and then restored, I doubly owe myself to Him. But what do I owe to
God for the gift of Himself ? If I gave Him my whole being a thousand times over, what would that be
in comparison of God?
Bernard concludes this section on the particular obligation of believers to love God with a call for
Christians to wholeheartedly love Him for His own sake and without limits.
Confess that God deserves to be greatly loved, or rather that He should be loved beyond measure. He
was the first to love, He so great and we so little. He loves us to excess, just as we are and without
any claim whatsoever on our side. This is why the rightful measure of our love to God is to exceed all
measure, for God, the object of our love, being infinite, how can we weigh or measure what we owe to
Him in love? Moreover, our love is not a free offering. It is the payment of a debt. Besides, it is the I Am,
eternal and immense, the Divine Love, God, whose greatness has no limits nor His wisdom bounds, who
is the “Peace which passes all understanding.” Since it is such a God who loves us, is it possible for us
to say we will love Him so much and no more?

God Should Be Loved because No One Is More Rewarding (7)

The preceding sections established that everyone is obligated to love God. Now, Bernard explains
why even though “we must love God independently of all reward, we shall nonetheless be rewarded
for having loved Him.” Pure love is focused on the object of one’s affections, not on any benefits
one might receive. Yet it is this purity of love that the beloved feels compelled to reward. Thus, “true
love seeks no reward, but it merits one,” and the proper reward of true love is the beloved itself.
Therefore, it is critical that people set God foremost in their affections because, in the end, every
other desired object proves elusive, unsatisfying, and temporary.
Tragically, most men squander their lives, vainly pursuing things that cannot satisfy. They “consume
their life in useless efforts and arrive at no perfect happiness, for they are in love with created things,
not with the Creator, and they try them, one and then another, before they dream of trying the Lord
that made them all.” Those who do manage to gain what they seek inevitably find it disappointing,
for the world cannot satisfy the soul. “If we were to see a starving man inhaling with wide open
mouth, drinking long gulps of wind to quench his thirst, we should say, ‘Poor fool!’ So it is with
those who seek to satisfy the soul with worldly goods.”
God in His Word tries to spare people such endless, fruitless striving, for the only thing that will
satisfy the soul is God Himself. God alone is deserving of man’s love, and God Himself is the
priceless reward that He gives to those who love Him. “He is generous to those who call upon
Him, but He can give nothing better than Himself. He Himself is the end goal of our merits and our
reward. He is the food of holy souls, the ransom of those that are yet in captivity. If the Lord is good
to the soul that seeks Him, what is He to the soul which has found Him?”

7
 On Loving God – Bernard of Clairvaux

Part 2: How God Should Be Loved (Chapters 8–10)

In Part One, Bernard explained why God should be loved: No one is more deserving and no one
is more rewarding. Now in Part Two, Bernard describes how God should be loved: selflessly and
without limit. Bernard describes four steps by which sinners progress in their love for God.
Loving self for self’s sake (8)
Loving God is the first and great commandment (Matthew 22:37–38), for the supreme object
of every creature’s affection should be its Creator. “But nature is too soft and weak for such a
commandment. She must begin by loving herself. This is the love which is fleshly, with which man
loves himself first and above all.” Sinners are naturally selfish and self-absorbed. They love and
prioritize themselves, not God or others. Yet from this wretched starting point, God begins to shift
man’s focus, first from himself to others and then to God.
Bernard compares self-love to a river which, when it rises too high, floods the surrounding land.
To prevent this destructive overflow, God gives the command to “love your neighbor as yourself”
(Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 22:39). This command functions as a dam against excessive self-
indulgence, for it forces a person to love others at the same level as they love themselves. Or to use
another analogy, the second great commandment ensures that all boats rise with the same tide, for
as one’s ego rises so must one’s esteem for others. “Such, O man, is the just limit imposed upon you
… that you not be carried away by your selfishness to your destruction, leaving your nature at the
mercy of your soul’s enemies, that is, of your passions.”
However, “it is not possible to love our neighbor as we should, except in God.” Therefore, God uses
man’s frailty and drive for self-preservation to awaken in him an awareness of God and the early
stirrings of a selfish love for Him.
That we might not attribute anything to ourselves, God, in the depths of His wisdom and love, made us
subject to tribulation. Being feeble and needy, we are forced to turn to God, and being saved by Him we
render glory to His name. These are His own words: “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver
you, and you shall glorify Me” (Psalm 50:15). In this way man, by nature animal and fleshly, with no
love but for himself, is brought through self-love to love God, realizing that all his ability, at any rate for
good, he has from God, and without Him he is able to do nothing.

God uses man’s own selfishness and neediness to turn his heart first to loving Him and then to
loving Him more purely.

Loving God for self’s sake and loving God for God’s sake (9)
Bernard presents the second and third steps to loving God in the same chapter, for they are closely
connected. Loving oneself leads to loving God, because He is gracious to sustain and deliver even
non-believers. Experiencing the reality of God as provider and protector, people begin to love Him,
but only selfishly. The second stage is characterized by a self-serving love in which people only love
God for what He gives them and does for them. It is loving God, but only for self’s sake.

8
 Be United in Christ

However, as God repeatedly and graciously proves Himself to be a loving Father who remains
faithful even when people are faithless, they begin to love God for who He is rather than simply
for what He does. People ascend to the third step when they adore God for His character and not
just His blessings, when they appreciate His goodness and not just His gifts. Greed is replaced by
gratitude, and people love God for His sake rather than for theirs. As Bernard explains:
First, then, man has some love for God for his own sake, not for God’s. It is already something to feel
the limits of his own capacity, to know what he cannot do without the help of God, and to keep right
with Him who sustains his life and strength.… Let the frequency of trials bring us often to the feet of
God, surely it is impossible, but we must begin to know Him, and, knowing Him, must come to discern
His sweetness. It soon follows that we are brought to love Him rightly, far more for the sweetness and
beauty that we find in Him than for our own self-interest.

As love for God grows, so does one’s love for one’s neighbor. “It is easy enough to obey the
command and love our neighbor as ourself, for if we love God truly, we love all that is His.” Thus,
obeying the first great commandment more fully enables one to obey the second commandment
more faithfully, for loving God more is the way to love others more.

Loving self for God’s sake (10)

The fourth and final step in loving God is to love Him so completely that one loves oneself only for
His sake. Selfishness is transformed to selflessness in the wholehearted devotion to God. “Happy is
he who can rise to the fourth degree of love, and loves himself only for God’s sake.” Losing oneself
for God’s sake is no sacrifice or hardship but is rather the only path to satisfaction and fulfillment.
“Holy and happy is he who but once, for but one moment, has felt something like this in his mortal
life. For this is no human happiness, it is life eternal to lose oneself, as if one were empty of self, as
if one did not exist.”

As Jesus taught and modeled, the full and blessed life is lived in complete submission to the will of
God. It is only when people are freed from self that they can find fullness of joy in God.
We read in the holy Scripture that God has made all things for Himself (Proverbs 16:4). His creatures are
therefore bound to conform themselves, at least in some measure, to the mind of their Maker. We ought
to offer ourselves entirely to Him, studying only His good pleasure, not our own. We shall find happiness
much less in seeking our own advantage than in the accomplishment of His will in us, according as we
daily pray: “Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Oh, pure and holy love! Most sweet and
blessed affection! Oh, complete submission of an unselfish soul, most perfect in that there is no thought
of self, most sweet and tender in that the soul’s whole feeling is divine! To attain to this is for the soul to
be made divine, as a small drop of water appears lost if mixed with wine, taking its taste and color. As
it is, when plunged into a furnace, a bar of iron seems to lose its nature and assume that of fire. Or, as it
is when the air, filled with the sun’s beams, seems rather to become light than to be illuminated. So it is
with the natural life of the saints. They seem to melt and pass away into the will of God. For if anything
merely human remained in man, how then should God be all in all? It is not that human nature will be
destroyed, but that it will attain another beauty, a higher power and glory.

9
 On Loving God – Bernard of Clairvaux

Conclusion: The Perfection of Love (Chapter 11)

Maintaining such selfless love for God is impossible so long as the physical body’s cares, pains, and
lusts distract the soul from focusing entirely on God.
Until death be wholly swallowed up in victory, until the glory of eternity shall have spread throughout
every corner of the domain of night, and the clarity of heavenly light shine even in our bodies, until then
our souls can never cast themselves into God, and wholly give themselves to Him.… Till the restoration
of our bodies, our souls can never be swallowed up in God, which is their absolute perfection.

However, when God restores the earth and gives His saints their glorified, resurrection bodies, then
their souls will enter into the satisfying, fulfilling love for God that will characterize eternity. Then
“our soul will easily attain to this perfect love when neither the burden nor the temptations of this
body oppress her. Then she will spring unhindered to her joy in the Lord” (10).

At the wedding feast of the Lamb, Christ will lovingly embrace His bride, the church, and she will
rejoice selflessly and everlastingly in the loving presence of God who is love.
From there comes gratification that is never satisfied; desire which is unquenchable, yet most calm and
peaceful—the eternal and incomparable desire to possess, which arises from no want. From there comes
that intoxication without excess, which comes from the enjoyment, not of wine, but of God and His
truth. The soul has reached forever the fourth degree of love, when she loves only God, and loves Him
supremely. She loves God for no gain, but for Himself alone, so that He is her reward, the eternal reward
of those who love Him, and shall love Him forever.

Appraisal
Loving God is the principal command in the Bible. God commanded Israel to “love the Lord your
God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5). Jesus
affirmed that this wholehearted love for God was the great and foremost commandment on which
all the Law and the Prophets hang (Matthew 22:37–38). Loving God is essential to inheriting eternal
life (Luke 10:25–27), and indeed, loving God is the essence of eternal life. Bernard of Clairvaux’s
On Loving God directs our affections back to their proper place. He reminds us, first of all, why God
should be loved, for there is no other so deserving or rewarding of our love. God Himself is both the
motivation and the reward for our love.

Bernard also shows us how to love God by describing the steps our affections should take as we seek
to love Him more fully. We are born loving ourselves for our own sake, but when our feebleness and
frailty make us cry out to God and He answers, then we begin to love Him, but only for our own
sake. God’s faithfulness and graciousness eventually soften our hearts to love Him for His sake.
We come to love God because He is good and not just because He gives good gifts. Eventually,
Christians will come to love Him so completely that they love themselves only for His sake. By
reminding us of the priority of loving God and showing us the path to loving God, On Loving God
offers a much needed resource to help us love the Lord our God with more of our heart, soul, mind,
and strength.

10
 Be United in Christ

Connection to Be United in Christ

Love is central to the Christian life. When asked what was necessary to inherit eternal life, Jesus
answered, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all
your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself’” (Luke 10:27). The
essence of obeying God is loving Him and loving others (Matthew 22:37–40; Deuteronomy 6:5;
Leviticus 19:18). Given the way Christ consistently connects these two commandments, it is clear
that a crucial way God wants us to love Him is by loving others. However, the only way to love
others more is to love God more. Sinners are hard to love, but God is not, and as we grow in our
love for God, we grow in our love for others. As we love God more, we become more loving like
God, our commitment to obey God increases, and our desire to love what God loves deepens. So
the key to loving others is not their loveliness but God’s. The secret to loving unlovely people is to
be so enamored with God’s loveliness that we gladly love them for His sake. Therefore, by growing
in our love for God we will grow in our desire and ability to Be United in Christ.

11
 On Loving God – Bernard of Clairvaux

Key Quotations
“You wish me to explain for what reason and in what measure we should love God. I should say that
God Himself is the motive of our love to Him, and that the measure of love due Him is to be without
measure.” (1)

“Two things there are that move us to love God for Himself: nothing is more reasonable and nothing is
more profitable.” (1)

“God gave Himself to us in spite of our unworthiness, and, being God, what could He give us of greater
worth than Himself ?” (1)

“If we desire that Christ should come to us and abide in us, we must fill our hearts full of the thoughts
of His death and resurrection and of the faithful recollection of the mercy and the power of which by
them He has given us proof.” (3)

“It is impossible, poor slaves, to labor for this world’s riches and also to delight in the cross of our
Savior Jesus Christ, at the same time to desire and labor for earthly things and to taste the sweetness of
our Lord.” (4)

“I know that God made me without any merit of mine, that He satisfies all my wants, comforts me with
pity, and governs me with attentive care … I know, besides, that He is my redeemer, the author of my
eternal salvation, my treasure and my glory.” (5)

“Both reason and the law of nature bind me fast to give myself undividedly to Him from whom I
possess all that I have, and to devote my entire being to the love of Him. And faith reveals to me that I
am constrained to love Him more than myself … I owe to His gracious generosity not only all I am, but
moreover the gift of Himself.” (5)

“Why should not the creation love God who made it, having received the power to love? Why should it
not love Him with all its powers, if it is only by God that it possesses any?” (5)

“What, therefore, shall I give to the Lord for all that He has done for me! By creating, He gave me to
myself, but He restored me to myself when He gave Himself to me. First given and then restored, I
doubly owe myself to Him. But what do I owe to God for the gift of Himself ? If I gave Him my whole
being a thousand times over, what would that be in comparison of God?” (5)

“If the Lord is good to the soul that seeks Him, what is He to the soul which has found Him?” (7)

“But in order that love for our neighbor be entirely right, God must have His part in it. It is not possible
to love our neighbor as we should, except in God.” (8)

“Let the frequency of trials bring us often to the feet of God … we must begin to know Him, and,
knowing Him, must come to discern His sweetness. It soon follows that we are brought to love Him
rightly, far more for the sweetness and beauty that we find in Him than for our own self-interest.” (9)

“It is easy enough to obey the command and love our neighbor as ourself, for if we love God truly, we
love all that is His.” (9)

12
 Be United in Christ

Key Bible Passages (ESV)

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your might.” (Deuteronomy 6:4–5)

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in
all His ways, to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to
keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?”
(Deuteronomy 10:12–13)

“Be very careful, therefore, to love the Lord your God.” (Joshua 23:11)

“Love the Lord, all you His saints! The Lord preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who
acts in pride.” (Psalm 31:23)

“And He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall
love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.’”
(Matthew 22:37–40)

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish
but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

“Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we
will come to him and make our home with him.’” (John 14:23)

“But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor
powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love
of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38–39)

“For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received
it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” (1 Corinthians 4:7)

“If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come!” (1 Corinthians 16:22)

“Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him
and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.” (1 Peter 1:8)

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we
are.” (1 John 3:1a)

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and
knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.... In this is love, not
that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved,
if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (1 John 4:7–11)

“We love because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)

13
 JOIN THE BE UNITED IN CHRIST OUTREACH MINISTRY

WHAT WILL YOU DO

WITH GOD’S GRACE?
God sees you. He loves you. And He wants you to experience a full and blessed
life. In the 365-day devotional, Grace for Everyday Living, some of Christianity’s
most respected voices cast light on topics such as how to maintain a peaceful spirit,
love others, and freely enjoy God’s grace and mercy. Your life will be transformed
as you discover the excitement of pleasing God and obeying His Word.

Our Premium Collection of books may be purchased from the Be United in Christ
Outreach Ministry at [Link].

[Link]
 JOIN THE BE UNITED IN CHRIST OUTREACH MINISTRY

BELIEVE IN GOD?
READY TO DO HIS WILL?
The theme of Christian unity is found throughout the Bible. God’s Will for Christian
Unity clearly reveals, in thirty Bible passages, our Lord’s passion and instruction
on the meaning, importance, and manifestation of Christian unity. Understanding
this collection of Bible passages will help you to know how you should think, feel,
and act in relation to other believers in accordance with God’s will.

Our Premium Collection of books may be purchased from the Be United in Christ
Outreach Ministry at [Link].

[Link]
 JOIN THE BE UNITED IN CHRIST OUTREACH MINISTRY

UNITY IS ESSENTIAL
FOR GOD’S PEOPLE.
The Be United in Christ Outreach Ministry has written Essentials of Unity from
a great sense of conviction … to better understand God’s will for the unity of
His people, how He achieves it, and what He asks of each of us in preserving it.
Essentials of Unity explains significant Biblical themes for understanding Christian
unity and how these Biblical themes connect to one another in the storyline of
Scripture from Genesis to Revelation.

Our Premium Collection of books may be purchased from the Be United in Christ
Outreach Ministry at [Link].

[Link]
 JOIN THE BE UNITED IN CHRIST OUTREACH MINISTRY

FEEL THE PASSION OF

CHRIST FOR UNITY.
In John 17:20–23, Jesus prayed for His disciples to be one … united with Him and
each other. In His prayer, we hear the passion of Jesus Christ for the union of His
people to God and to one another. One: The Passion and Prayer of the Lord Jesus
Christ was written to help God’s people understand the nature of this unity as well
as how it is to be accomplished in the body of Christ.

Our Premium Collection of books may be purchased from the Be United in Christ
Outreach Ministry at [Link].

[Link]
 JOIN THE BE UNITED IN CHRIST OUTREACH MINISTRY

HOW WILL YOU

SPEND ETERNITY?
In the history of Christianity, no one has written as vividly on the subjects of
Heaven and Hell as Jonathan Edwards. Heaven Is a World of Love combines
Edwards’ most powerful sermons and presents them in modern-day language. Be
encouraged with the hope of Heaven, sobered by the horrors of Hell, and assured
that you can spend eternity enjoying God’s love.

Our Premium Collection of books may be purchased from the Be United in Christ
Outreach Ministry at [Link].

[Link]
 JOIN THE BE UNITED IN CHRIST OUTREACH MINISTRY

BRING HARMONY TO
YOUR CHRISTIAN FAMILY.
What if your church could be conflict-free? Drawn from the wisdom of respected
Puritan preacher Jeremiah Burroughs, Peace and Healing reveals the sources and
dangers of conflict within God’s family and recommends God’s solutions. Get to
the root of disunity and bring love and harmony to the most important relationships
in your life.

Our Premium Collection of books may be purchased from the Be United in Christ
Outreach Ministry at [Link].

[Link]
 JOIN THE BE UNITED IN CHRIST OUTREACH MINISTRY

YOU CAN LOVE

LIKE JESUS.
Imagine how the world could be transformed if Christians loved each other
the way Jesus asked them to. Jesus’ life is the greatest example of love that the
world has ever seen. He told His disciples to love one another as He loved them.
When believers live in visible love and unity as Christ lived—unity based on
Biblical truth—we will begin to experience a taste of what Heaven will be like.

Our Premium Collection of books may be purchased from the Be United in Christ
Outreach Ministry at [Link].

[Link]
 JOIN THE BE UNITED IN CHRIST OUTREACH MINISTRY

LEARN WHAT JESUS

PRAYED FOR YOU.
In the hours just before He was crucified, Jesus prayed for you. But what did He
pray? And why does it matter? With the John 17:20–26 Exegetical Guide, you
will see through Jesus’ eyes and be moved by what He prayed for you at this
critical time. You will find where you belong. And your desire to draw closer to
God and to other believers will grow as you read this inspiring guide.

Our Premium Collection of books may be purchased from the Be United in Christ
Outreach Ministry at [Link].

[Link]
 JOIN THE BE UNITED IN CHRIST OUTREACH MINISTRY

DEVELOP A RICH
CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY.
Blessing. Peace. Eternal life. How can you experience them for yourself? Explore
Psalm 133 and learn King David’s song of the goodness and pleasantness of
God’s children living in harmony. You will discover that unity is not only God’s
desire but also His design to lead you into the satisfying life He desires for you to
experience.

Our Premium Collection of books may be purchased from the Be United in Christ
Outreach Ministry at [Link].

[Link]
 JOIN THE BE UNITED IN CHRIST OUTREACH MINISTRY

UNCOVER YOUR PURPOSE

IN GOD’S PLAN.
All of us want to belong, to feel connected, to be a part of something bigger than
ourselves. For the Christian, these desires find their fulfillment in Christ and in
the life He has designed for His church. The 1 Corinthians 12 Exegetical Guide
will show you how God intends to fulfill your deep need to belong. You have a
reserved position in His plan. You have a unique place, and you have a vital role.

Our Premium Collection of books may be purchased from the Be United in Christ
Outreach Ministry at [Link].

[Link]
 JOIN THE BE UNITED IN CHRIST OUTREACH MINISTRY

A THIRD GREAT LOVE

COMMANDMENT.
Within every human heart is the desire to be loved and to show love. It is the
mark of God on our lives—a God who embodies love, who IS love, according
to the Bible. In His Word, God gives us three great commandments, rules for
operating in love with Him, with others, and with our Christian family. These
commands should provide the foundation for everything we say and do.

Our Premium Collection of books may be purchased from the Be United in Christ
Outreach Ministry at [Link].

Basic Edition

Deluxe Edition

[Link]
 JOIN THE BE UNITED IN CHRIST OUTREACH MINISTRY

ENJOY THE LIFE CHRIST

INTENDS FOR YOU.
The most prominent preacher of the 19th century, Charles Spurgeon pastored the
world’s largest mega-church and spoke to millions. Considered one of the greatest
preachers in church history, his messages are as inspiring today as when they were
first preached. Spurgeon On Unity lets you slip into the pew of this “Prince of
Preachers” as he applies God’s Word to one of your greatest needs.

Our Premium Collection of books may be purchased from the Be United in Christ
Outreach Ministry at [Link].

[Link]
 JOIN THE BE UNITED IN CHRIST
OUTREACH MINISTRY

We encourage you to reproduce, distribute, and share the materials of the

Be United in Christ Outreach Ministry and to unite with other brothers and
sisters in Christ in the Be United in Christ Outreach Ministry.
This book summary was developed and distributed by the Be United in Christ
Outreach Ministry for use in your personal life and ministry. It is our desire
for you to use, reproduce, and distribute this material free of charge. Our only
restrictions are that you do not alter the book summary content in any way, that

work to the Be United in Christ Outreach Ministry.

The desire of the Be United in Christ Outreach Ministry is to glorify our Lord by
helping our brothers and sisters in Christ to have a better understanding of our
Lord’s passion and prayer for His people to “Be United in Christ.”
Please join us in the Be United in Christ Outreach Ministry as we await the
glorious return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

[Link]