On the Knowledge and Love of God

“A virtuous man may be ignorant, but ignorance is not a virtue. It would be a strange God Who could be loved better by being known less. Love of God is not the same as knowledge of God; love of God is immeasurably more important than knowledge of God; but if a man loves God knowing a little about Him, he should love God more from knowing more about Him: for every new thing know about God is a new reason for loving Him.”

~ F. J. Sheed, Theology and Sanity (New York, NY; Sheed & Ward, 1946), 9-10.

On the Fear of the Lord

“Fear of the Lord means that I carry around with me such a deep awareness, awe, and reverence for the power, holiness, wisdom, and grace of God that I would not think of doing anything other than living for his glory. Fearing the Lord means that this worshipful awe is the single and unchallenged motivator of everything I think, desire, say, and do.”

~ Paul David Tripp, A Quest for More (Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2007), 126.

Stewardship as Our Sacrifice of Worship

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:1-2).

“Because we have limited resources (time, energy, money), we must allocate those things to what we consider most important or glorious to us and in so doing make sacrifices for our functional god. Whatever we hold in the position of highest glory is by definition our god(s). Practically, worship is making sacrifices for what we are living to glorify.”

~ Mark Driscoll & Gerry Bresheares, Vintage Jesus (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2008), 166.