The Love of God

About this book

What if the single most important truth about God could be said in one word?The Virgin Mary, in the mystical writings of Maria Valtorta, reduced all of theology to exactly that - one word: Love. Not love as a feeling that comes and goes. Not love as a reward for good behavior. Love as the very substance of God - the fire at the center of all things, burning before you were born and burning still.The Love of God is a guide to encountering that fire - not as an idea to study, but as a presence to receive.Drawing on the extraordinary Notebooks of Maria Valtorta (1943-1950) - one of the most extensive accounts of divine love in the Christian mystical tradition - this book walks you through four movements of a single, deepening encounter: Understanding - What does it mean that God doesn't just have love, but is love? What does perfect love actually look like - and why does it pursue you without ceasing, even now?Receiving - What blocks you from letting that love in? Selfishness, pride, lukewarmness, fear - each one named with precision and each one met with a specific path through.Returning - How do you love God back? Not through performance, but through surrender, through suffering offered in love, through the daily discipline of keeping your heart turned toward the One who never stops turning toward you.Growing Deeper - Where does love ultimately lead? Into union with God Himself - the soul as a star launched on an irreversible trajectory toward its source, where nothing can halt the race of love.This is not a theology textbook. It is not a self-help book dressed in spiritual language. It is a contemplative guide written in warm, accessible prose - rooted in Scripture, enriched by the Christian mystical tradition, and illuminated by passages from Valtorta's Notebooks that will stay with you long after you set the book down."As soon as I see a movement in a heart, a good movement, I rush to pour Myself out.""The most fitting word on my death is not 'scourges, ' 'tortures, ' or 'cross.' It is 'love.'""Let there be a point in you, the deepest one, which has this one mission - to love."Whether you are deepening a faith you have held for decades or returning after years of distance, this book meets you where you are. No guilt. No jargon. Only the relentless, pre-emptive, inexhaustible love of a God who loved you before you existed - and who is loving you still.Includes: 30-Day Devotional Guide, Prayers from the Notebooks, Small Group Discussion Questions, and a Bibliography for Further Reading.