Love Begets Love
Prof. Drummond. 2 Thessalonians 3:5 And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ. Love begets love. It is a process of production. You put a piece of iron in the mere presence of an electrified body, and that piece for a time becomes electrified. It becomes a temporary magnet in the presence of a permanent magnet, and as long as you leave the two side by side, they are both magnets. Remain side by side with Him who loved us, and gave Himself for us, and you too will become a permanent magnet — a permanent attractive force; and like Him you will draw all men — be they white men or black men — unto you. That is the inevitable effect of love. Any man who fulfils that cause must have that effect produced in him. Gentlemen, give up the idea that religion comes to us by chance, or by mystery, or by caprice. It comes to us by natural law; or by supernatural law, for all law is Divine. Edward Irving went to see a dying boy once, and when he entered the room, he just put his hand on the sufferer's head, and said, "My boy, God loves you," and went away. And the boy started from his bed, and he called out to the people in the house, "God loves me! God loves me!" One word; one word! It changed that boy. The sense that God loved him had overpowered him, melted him down and begun the making of a new heart. And that is how the love of God melts down the unlovely heart in us, and begets in us this new creature, who is patient and humble and unselfish. And there is no other way to get it. There is no trick about it. Oh, truth lies in that! — we love others, we love everybody, we love our enemies, because He first loved us. (Prof. Drummond.) Parallel Verses KJV: And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ. WEB: May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patience of Christ.