Quote:
Originally Posted by OBW
Paul made many spiritual statements in his letters. But he didn't often (if at all) write them as the goal of our living, but as the underpinnings — the reasons — that we do what we do.
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I agree. The goal of our living is God. The reason for our living is God. The motivation for our living is God. The reward of our living is God.
This is what Brother Lawrence saw.
God is glorious. But we don't love him because of the glory he allows us to bask in, we love him because he is Himself.
Of course, obeying God is the primary way we show our love for him ("If you love me you will keep my commandments"). But we cannot truly keep his commandments apart from an intimate, utterly dependent relationship with Him, because we cannot know what the Word truly means apart from the Holy Spirit's enlightenment. This doesn't mean the good is the enemy of the best. A moral person is better than a immoral person. But a moral person who walks in the Spirit is better than both.
But a Christian who seeks the "glorious" more than the glorious God is mis-aiming.