This essay continues a sequence. Read the previous one here.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
— KJV, Isaiah 55:9
Don’t try to understand the Almighty through a human lens; understand human folly by trying to understand the Almighty.
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We continue with our discussion about the unity of God’s Will and His Love, which we highlighted in “Is His Love Blind?” and returned to in “No Disconnect: A Divine Quantum Entanglement“.
We have discussed the spiritual nature of real love, and the fact that real love is always directed at the spiritual benefit of the loved one. We note that “spiritual benefit” is not the same as earthly comfort and convenience.
We now seek to address an observed tendency amongst followers of Christ to focus on God’s Love without reference to His Will.
We glossed over a number of key aspects of love in the previous essay, and we need to address those before we can come back to the main question.
Man’s “Love” vs Man’s Will
What we call “love” on earth often has to do with actions that are not connected with the spiritual benefit of the “loved” one.
For example purposes, let us focus on one behavior associated with earthly love: “bending the rules”.
It is common for people to bend the rules for those they “love”. In fact some people equate love with this type of behaviour.
There are two scenarios:
- The rules are good and make sense.
- The rules are flawed.
Does Love Ignore The Common Good?
Assuming the rules make sense and are set for the common good, bending the rules is against the common good.
But acting against the common good is selfish. Therefore this amounts to promoting selfishness, which is not to the spiritual benefit of the beneficiary.
So it is not love.
He that findeth his life shall lose it:
— KJV, Matt:10:39
and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
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He who is driven by selfish desires will not gain spiritual life, whereas he that gives up selfish desires for the sake of Love shall do so.
Can God’s Love Be Inconsistent?
Now the second scenario: how about if the rules are flawed?
This is possible with man-made rules because man is imperfect. In this scenario bending the rules may be justifiable and even necessary.
God’s Rules, the Laws of Creation, are perfect. If it were ever necessary to bend them, it would be proof of imperfection. The idea that God would bend His own perfection should be very problematic to any thinking student of The Word, and we will explore this at length in future essays.
And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass,
— Luke 16:17
than one tittle of the law to fail.
Bending the Laws of Creation is completely unnecessary and out of the question.
Man’s Love and God’s Love: As Far Apart As Earth and Heaven
The first scenario highlighted our flawed concept of love, and the second scenario highlighted imperfection in our rule-making i.e. our will.
That is: our love is imperfect and so is our will. Furthermore, they are often at variance with each other.
These realities are so deeply ingrained in our thinking as to be almost subconscious. Our anthropomorphic thinking habits (ref. “God Is Neither Superman Nor Santa“) then lead us to assume that similar imperfections are possible with God.
This is the root of the issue at hand, and why it is difficult for many people to envisage the perfect unity of God’s Will and His Love.
We shall continue this exploration in a future essay.
Today’s Resolution
- We shall seek to kindle true selfless love within ourselves, understanding that as we give up selfish desires we align with the Nature of God, and thus gain protection and support through His Laws.
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