So, I'm a thinker. I'm not void of emotions; I actually feel a lot. But I am always thinking. Unfortunately, my thoughts are hardly ever linear. For this reason, I have a hard time explaining my thoughts to others, and I have a hard time coming to conclusions. This whole concept that I'm about to write about has been mulling around in my head for weeks, maybe months. Finally, talking this through with Paige the other day helped me organize my thoughts. She does that for me often.
I'm not exactly sure what this idea is supposed to do for you, or for me. Maybe this is just to convince us that His ways really are higher than ours, and His thoughts higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). Maybe it's to help explain this crazy world and how a loving God could be in charge of it all. Heck, maybe I'm wrong about this whole thing. (I told you I was bad about coming to conclusions). But over and over again, I keep coming back to that love is what this world is all about, what our God is all about. So naturally, it's always on my mind ....
We don’t fully understand love.
Here’s why I say this:
We like love from our significant others or friends because it feels good. It’s attractive to us.
We like love from our parents when it’s providing for us. But we don’t like love from our parents when it’s telling us what to do. We rebel against its authority. It doesn’t feel as good when it tells us we’re doing things wrong, even though that’s exactly what parents are commanded to do (Proverbs 22:6).
We want love to always feel good. We mistake love always being affirming and kind for always giving us what we want. That is not love. Love shouldn’t propel us towards selfishness, because selfishness is not best for us. Being loved tempts us to hoard it when it should prompt us to give our lives away to love others.
Romans 13:10 is my favorite definition of love. ‘Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of the law.’ Bam. Since God is love (1 John 4:8), He does no wrong to us. He does not wrong us. And since Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the law for us (because we cannot), He is love. [By the way, the second half of the verse shouldn’t be that shocking, since Jesus Himself said all the commandments could be summed up by loving God and loving people - Matthew 22:37-40. Also check Romans 13:8-9.]
Sometimes, love needs to tell us we’re an idiot. In order to love Job, God needed to put him in his place (Job 38). In order to love Jonah (and the Ninevites), God needed to put him in a whale (Jonah 1:17). He also tells Jonah he’s being a whiner later in the book (Jonah 4). In order to love Joseph, God allowed him to be put in a pit (Genesis 37:23, 50:20). In order to love King David, God punishes him for adultery (2 Samuel 12:7-18). Note that God did not punish him forever; He soon blessed David with another child because He loved him (2 Samuel 12:24-25). In order to love Ruth, God let her first husband die, then later sends her a kinsman-redeemer (Ruth 1:3-4, Ruth 4:13-14). In order to love Paul, God put a thorn in his side (2 Corinthians 12:6-10). In order to love the world, God sacrificed His Son (John 3:16). In that moment, I don’t believe love felt good to God. What a sacrifice - to let His Son suffer so that He could have us, too.
How sweet is it that God’s love encompasses all types. He is our Father (1 John 3:1), and He disciplines those He loves (Hebrews 12:6, Revelation 3:19). He calls Himself our friend - our loyal, constant, encouraging friend (Isaiah 41:8, John 15:13,15). He calls Himself our lover (Hosea 2:16, Song of Solomon) - our intimate, faithful, passionate lover. So He is always for us (Romans 8:28-32), and He does no wrong to us (Romans 13:10); it’s us who doesn’t understand what’s best for us. I heard someone say once that God knows how to love us better than we know how to love ourselves. Our self-love is all about me, and that’s not actually what’s best for us. What’s best for us is making our lives all about the Perfect God of the Universe - in other words, accepting and reflecting His love to the world around us.
And I have to mention my favorite part of the virtue love - it never fails. Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8). Hallelujah. These promises of His love stand forever. Forever. Till the end of time.
We will never love perfectly. I think that’s why we have such a hard time understanding love, because everyone on this earth perverts love in some way, even with the best intentions. But we cannot say that he/she/He does not love me just because it doesn’t feel good at the moment. That is a very shallow understanding of the word love. A lot of times love does feel good, but not always. So will you trust God that He is doing what is best for you - whether it’s rebuking, correcting, encouraging or blessing? He does each of these not to tear us down or make us weak, but to build us up in Himself.
We don’t fully understand love. If we did, we would fully understand God. And who is ready to claim that?
