Thoughts on 2 Cor. 5:14 "The Love of Christ controls/compels us"

2 Cor 5:14 (ESV) "For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died."

2 Cor 5:14 (NIV) "For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died"

"The love of Christ constrains us;" that is, impels us, presses us on, bears us forward and upward, by its irresistible and all-commanding influence. Love to Christ is the great exciting motive in the obedience, labor, and suffering of the believer. When love is in the ascendant, the wheels of obedience will run freely, the Cross will be sweet, and self-denial pleasant. It will sweetly soothe the soul in suffering- not by the removal of all sense of pain, but by overcovering it with a sense of love. It will so robe the dankest providences, that you shall see nothing but itself nothing but love." Winslow

"Love of Jesus is essential to Christianity. No privations can starve it, and no burdens can break it down. It is the core of all true piety. It is the only cure of the reigning worldliness and covetousness and fashion worship, which have made such havoc in too many churches. There is only one way to be a steadfast Christian—it is to get the heart so full of love to Jesus—that the world, and the lusts of the flesh, and the devil can get no foothold. A true Christian life is the continual consecration of our bodily powers, of our energies, our affections, our resources, and our influence—to Him who bought us with His precious blood" Theodore Cuyler

"There is no sin so sweet—but the love of Christ restrains them from it; there is no service so great—but the love of Christ constrains them to it. If once this affection takes fire—the room becomes too hot for any sin to stay in. The heart becomes a chamber for Christ—but not a harbor for lust. The mandrakes give forth their fragrance, and the rarest fruits are at our doors, the new as well as old, for I have stored them up for you, O my beloved. Love never shakes the boughs—but for Christ to eat the fruit." William Secker