THE WILL TO LOVE - Vital Christianity

34Holiness, not happiness, is God’s main concern for His children. Happiness is abyproduct of holiness. As the Westminster Catechism states, “The chief end of man is to glorifyGod and enjoy Him forever.” It is in the process of glorifying God that we also experienceenjoying Him.Among Christian circles happiness has become an end in itself. All kinds of wrongdoinghas been excused on the grounds that they were done in the pursuit of happiness. This is puttingthe cart before the horse. Holiness, righteousness, truth, honesty must be our pursuit.The following verse shows the relationship between godly pursuits and happiness:“Happiness is like a butterfly.The more you chase it,the more it will elude you.But if you turn your attentionto other things,It comes and softly sits onyour shoulder.” 3God is more concerned with the state of our hearts than with the state of our feelings.Knowing God and doing His will must be our main concern. Then our happiness will springfrom a more intimate fellowship with God.HOLY LOVEThe love of God must never be seen apart from the holiness of God. “The holiness ofGod,” as Francis Schaeffer points out, “is to be exhibited simultaneously with love.” Love apartfrom holiness is merely sentimentality. God’s love is not indulgent, soft, gooey—divorced frommoral standards. God’s love is holy love.J. I. Packer writes the following about God’s holy love:“The God whom Jesus made known is not a God who is indifferent to moraldistinctions, but a God who loves righteousness and hates iniquity, a Godwhose ideal for His Children is that they should be ‘perfect,’ even as your Fatherin heaven is perfect (Mt 5:48). He will not take into His company any person,however orthodox in mind, who will not follow after holiness of life, and thosewhom He does accept He exposes to drastic discipline, in order that they mayattain what they seek . . . God’s love is stern, for it expresses holiness in the loverand seeks holiness for the beloved. Scripture does not allow us to suppose that