Latter Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate/Volume 3/Number 6/Love to God

LOVE TO GOD.

Love, considered in reference to the Supreme Being, may be viewed as dividing itself into a variety of streams or kindred emotions, all flowing from one source. The most prominent of these emotions are the following—Admiration, which consists in a delightful emotion, arising from a contemplation of the wonderful works of God, and of the wisdom and goodness which they unfold—Reverence, which is nearly allied to admiration, is a solemn emotion, mingled with awe and delight, excited in the mind, when it contemplates the perfections, and the grand operations of the Eternal Mind,—Gratitude, which consists in affection to the Supreme Being, on account of the various benefits he has conferred upon us—Humility, which consists in a just sense of our own character and condition, especially when we compare ourselves with the purity and perfection of the divine character. To these emotions may be added Complacency and delight in the character and operations of God—Adoration of his excellencies, and an unlimited Dependence upon him in reference to our present concerns, and to our future destination.

Love is that noble affection which is excited by amiable objects; and therefore, in order to its being rational, permanent, and delightful, it must be founded on the perception of certain amiable qualities or attributes connected with its object. In order to demonstrate the reasonableness of this affection in reference to God, it is only requisite to consider his character and perceptions, and the relation in which he stands to us as the Author of our existence and enjoyments.