Happy Valentine's Day God

Most of us know that we are supposed to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind (Matt. 22:37). But actually living it out is challenging. It confuses us when loving God is hard. Shouldn’t loving a good God be easy? When we love God because we feel we should love Him, instead of genuinely loving out of our true selves, we have forgotten who God really is and why He merits 100 percent of our love.

Ask yourself right now, is there something about God that confuses me or makes me angry? Although I cannot possibly provide an adequate response to your particular answer, the reasoning behind our doubts comes down to believing in answering a simple question. Do I exist for God or does God exist for me? The Bible clearly teaches that people exist for God, but consider if you pray and live as if you exist for God or if you pray and live in expectation of what He might do for you.

Everything was created, not only by God but for God: “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him” (Col. 1:16, NIV, 1984). Don’t we often live instead as though God exists for us: to do our bidding, bless us, and take care of our loved ones? Psalm 115:3 reveals, “But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases” (NASB). Yet, we keep questioning Him: “Why did You make me with this body, instead of that one? . . . Why are so many people dying of starvation? . . . Why are there so many planets with nothing living on them? . . . Why is my family so messed up? . . . Why don’t You make Yourself more obvious to the people who need You?” Even Jesus did not help everyone while He ministered on Earth.

Did Jesus feed all the hungry people in the world when He was here? NO (John 6:34-41)

Did Jesus heal all the crippled people in the world when He was here? NO (Matt. 13:15)

Did Jesus protect everyone in the world from Satan when He was here? NO (John 13:27)

Did Jesus give everyone clear answers to all their questions when He was here? NO (Luke 9:45)

Could Jesus have done all of these things? YES (Matt. 28:18)

The hard reality is that, “All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?’” (Dan. 4:35, NIV, 1984). Can we worship a god who isn’t obligated to explain His actions to us? Could it be our arrogance that makes us think God owes us an explanation? Do we really believe that, compared to God, “All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing?”

Furthermore, God does not care about our problems or our earthly attachments. In fact, God hates them. Jesus said, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26, NASB). This statement, which contradicts the tolerance promoted by modern evangelical churches, is often misunderstood because it ignores the context of the beginning of this conditional clause, “If anyone comes to Me.” It is utter nonsense when opponents of the Bible use this verse to suggest Christ communicates a message of hate. It disregards the syntax. The biblical examples of love involve willingness to sacrifice. I suggest that the opposite of love is not hate, but love of self (selfishness, self-conceit, self-consumed, etc.). Hate is a relative term in the Bible that may be better understood in terms of loyalty. If we picture love and hate on a scale instead of images on two sides of a coin, Jesus is saying that in order for us to be His disciples, we must comparatively hate any consideration or feeling of our mother, father, spouse, kids, and siblings when we come to Him. This is why we see Jesus turn away 3 men who wanted to follow Him in Luke 9; they each did not hate their own families’ lives in comparison to loving Jesus. Attachment and devotion to Christ must outweigh all others.

We need to understand that this is not depressing but good news. What true faith in God results in, is that we trust God for His glory (not our own). We can take comfort in knowing that obedience to advance God’s glory results in advancing His will for our own lives. The Lord’s glory and his will for us our intertwined. We should trust His will for our lives, since He is a trustworthy Father and deserving of our full love.

What does God’s love mean to you? I do not want to pressure you into understanding God’s love the same way I experience it. However, I can guide you to some places in the Bible for study and reflection. I recommend reviewing Romans 8:31-39 and 1 John 4:7-11. You could also search for the word love in the Bible (like at biblegateway.com) and see which verses enlighten your understanding of God’s love or your responsibility to love others.

20 February 2021