A. W. Pink said —


All religion is in effect love. Faith is thankful acceptance, and thankfulness is an expression of love. Repentance is love mourning. Yearning for holiness is love seeking. Obedience is love pleasing. Self-denial is the mortification of self-love. Sobriety is the curtailing of carnal love….

The affections of man cannot be idle; if they do not go out to God, they leads out to worldly things. When our love for God decreases, the love of the world grows in our soul.

— cited in Iain H. Murray, The Life of Arthur W. Pink (Banner of Truth, 2004).