Spiritual Quotes

Loving God

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. —Mark 12:30 (KJV)

Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. —John 14:23 (KJV)

All things work together for good to them that love God. —Romans 8:28 (KJV)

And whoso loveth Me cometh to Me.
Whoso shall offer Me in faith and love
A leaf, a flower, a fruit, water poured forth,
That offering I accept, lovingly made
With pious will.
—The Song Celestial (Bhagavad Gita), translated by Sir Edwin Arnold

...them that worship Me with love, I love;
They are in Me, and I in them!
—The Song Celestial (Bhagavad Gita), translated by Sir Edwin Arnold

Fix heart and thought on Me! Adore Me! Bring
Offerings to Me! Make Me prostrations! Make
Me your supremest joy! and, undivided,
Unto My rest your spirits shall be guided.
—The Song Celestial (Bhagavad Gita), translated by Sir Edwin Arnold

Who doeth all for Me; who findeth Me
In all; adoreth always; loveth all
Which I have made, and Me, for Love’s sole end
That man, Arjuna! unto Me doth wend.
—The Song Celestial (Bhagavad Gita), translated by Sir Edwin Arnold

Devoted—with a heart grown pure, restrained
In lordly self-control, forgoing wiles
Of song and senses, freed from love and hate,
Dwelling ‘mid solitudes, in diet spare,
With body, speech, and will tamed to obey,
Ever to holy meditation vowed,
From passions liberate, quit of the Self,
Of arrogance, impatience, anger, pride;
Freed from surroundings, quiet, lacking nought—
Such an one grows to oneness with the BRAHM;
Such an one, growing one with BRAHM, serene,
Sorrows no more, desires no more; his soul,
Equally loving all that lives, loves well
Me, Who have made them, and attains to Me.
—The Song Celestial (Bhagavad Gita), translated by Sir Edwin Arnold

I engaged in a religious life only for the love of God, and I have endeavored to act only for Him; whatever becomes of me...I will always continue to act purely for the love of God. I shall have this good at least, that till death I shall have done all that is in me to love Him. —Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God, recorded by M. Beaufort

He told me...that he had...found it the shortest way to go straight to Him by a continual exercise of love and doing all things for His sake. —Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God, recorded by M. Beaufort

The laws of GOD, which are the commentaries of His works, show them to be yours; because they teach you to love God with all you Soul, and with all your Might. Whom if you love with all the endless powers of your Soul, you will love Him in Himself, in his attributes, in His counsels, in all His works, in all His ways; and in every kind of thing wherein He appeareth, you will prize Him, you will Honour Him, you will delight in Him, you will ever desire to be with Him and to please Him. For to love Him includeth all this.—Thomas Traherne, Centuries of Meditations

Love is an infinite treasure to its object, and its object is so to it. God is Love, and you are His object. You are created to be His Love: and He is yours. He is happy in you, when you are happy: as parents in their children. He is afflicted in all your afflictions. And whosever toucheth you, toucheth the apple of His eye. Will not you be happy in all His enjoyments? He feeleth in you; will not you feel in Him? He hath obliged you to love Him. And if you love Him, you must of necessity be Heir of the World, for you are happy in Him. All His praises are your joys, all His enjoyments are your treasures, all His pleasures are your enjoyments. In God you are crowned, in God you are concerned. In Him you feel, in Him you live, and move, and have your being, in Him you are blessed. Whatsoever therefore serveth Him; serveth you and in Him you inherit all things. —Thomas Traherne, Centuries of Meditations

Wilt though not live unto Him? Thou must of necessity live unto something. And what so glorious as His infinite Love? Since therefore, laws are requisite to lead thee, what laws can thy soul desire, than those that guide thee in the most amiable paths to the highest end? By Love alone is God enjoyed, by Love alone delighted in, by Love alone approached or admired. His Nature requires Love, thy nature requires Love. Thy law of Nature commands thee to Love Him: the law of His nature, and the Law of thine. —Thomas Traherne, Centuries of Meditations

Wouldst thou love God alone? God alone cannot be beloved. He cannot be loved with a finite love, because He is infinite. Were he beloved alone, His love would be limited. He must be loved in all with an unlimited love, even in all His doings, in all His friends, in all His creatures. Everywhere in all things thou must meet His love. —Thomas Traherne, Centuries of Meditations

The first test of love is that it knows no bargaining. Love is always the giver, and never the taker. Says the child of God, “If God wants, I give Him my everything, but I do not want anything of Him. I want nothing in this universe. I love Him, because I want to love Him, and I ask no favor in return. Who cares whether God is almighty or not? I do not want any power from Him nor any manifestation of His power. Sufficient for me that He is the God of love. I ask no more questions.” —Swami Vivekananda, The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda (8 Vol. set), Volume 2

The highest, most expressive, strongest, and most attractive human love is that between man and woman, and, therefore, that language was used in expressing the deepest devotion. The madness of this human love was the faintest echo of the mad love of the saints. The true lovers of God want to become mad, inebriated with the love of God, to become “God-intoxicated men.” They want to drink of the cup of love which has been prepared by the saints and sages of every religion, who have poured their heart’s blood into it, and in which have been concentrated all the hopes of those who have loved God without seeking reward, who wanted love for itself only. The reward of love is love, and what a reward it is! It is the only thing that takes off all sorrows, the only cup, by the drinking of which this disease of the world vanishes. Man becomes divinely mad and forgets that he is man. —Swami Vivekananda, The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda (8 Vol. set), Volume 2