“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
(Revelation 4:11)
Charity is that grace by which God is loved as the chief good. This virtue fixes the soul on God Himself, adoring Him, longing for union with Him, and yielding to His good will. And when the heart loves God rightly, it delights to give Him the glory due His name. The goodness of God, shining in His kindness and mercy, becomes the proper object of this love and the cause of true praise.
Yet faith and hope precede love, as causes before their effect. My soul begins to love God because, by faith and hope, it tastes something of how good God is and how real His love toward His people is. My heart cannot initiate that love; it can only respond to it. “We have known and believed the love that God hath to us… we love him, because he loved us first” (1 John 4:19).
Faith then begins the work, sustains the whole, and carries within it the seed of every fruit that follows. Faith roots my soul in God’s promise and in God’s Christ. And from that root love grows because true charity cannot be produced by human strength. It is a grace that follows believing.
Love of God is expressed as a three-strand cord—love of union, love of well-pleasedness, and love of good will. Love of union is that desire to be joined to God, longing to be present with the Lord. Love of well-pleasedness is that adoration of all that God is, resting in His divine perfection and delighting in His excellent goodness. Love of good will is the yielding of the whole self to God, with a sincere desire that all things that belong to His glory be given to Him.[1]
Love is no replacement for faith, and it is no ground for justification. Faith looks to its proper object, and justification depends upon that object, not upon love. Yet faith shows its life through love. Where faith is living, a deep love for God follows. Where charity is true, it bends the whole man upward toward God in praise, obedience, and reverent surrender.
Contemplations:
- God is the chief good, not a tool for my good. Charity loves God as He is. It adores Him and rests in Him because He is excellent. I need grace that not only thanks God for His gifts but delights in God Himself. I want love that chooses His will above my comfort and that seeks His glory above my outcomes.
- Faith must lead, or my love collapses into wishing. I can have religious impulses and still not love God truly. I want a faith that takes hold of God as He is revealed, a love rooted in believing and not a shallow sentiment based in mood or habit.
- True charity yields my whole self to God’s glory. I can claim to love God and still reserve corners of my life for myself. Yet true love gives itself wholly to Him, acknowledging His goodness and declaring it in words and deeds. I want to live as one who casts down crowns, not as one who clutches them. I want my choices to say, “thou alone art worthy.”
- Adoration is the most honest posture of the soul. Revelation 4:11 calls God worthy because He created all things for His pleasure. That puts everything in its place. I exist because God willed it. I continue because He upholds it. I am not the center; God is. I want my heart to rest there, rejoicing in it with steady praise.
Prayer (adoration)
Worthy Lord, glory belongs to You. Honor belongs to You. Power belongs to You. You are worthy to receive all praise because You are the Creator of all things, and all things exist for Your pleasure. You are over all, and everything that exists is held in Your hand. All things are because You willed them, and all things remain because You sustain them.
I adore Your goodness. It shines in mercy, and Your mercy endures forever. You are good in Yourself, without measure, without limit, and without dependence. Your goodness is holy, steady, and free. It is the proper object of love and the proper cause of praise.
I adore You as the highest good and the final end. You are complete, You are satisfied, and You are blessed forever.
I adore the grace by which You draw sinners into communion with Yourself and make known Your love. You shed it abroad in hearts that would otherwise be cold. You create faith, and by that faith You bring forth hope, and from that hope You raise charity. You build what You command. You give what You require. You do not ask for fruit from a root You have not planted.
I adore You for the union You grant. You bring those who are far off near. You reveal Your secrets to Your people. You dwell with those who love You. You are not ashamed to call Your people Your own.
Receive my praise. my submission, and my whole self. Let every thought, every desire, every act bend upward toward Your glory, because You are worthy.
In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Further Scripture References for Rev. 4:11:
Rev. 5:12, Acts 14:15, Prov. 16:4, Rev. 1:6
[1] William Ames, The Marrow of Sacred Divinity (London: Edward Griffin for Henry Overton .., 1642), 264–270.
