I value each person who reads this blog. Therefore, I thought it might be insightful to you if I shared how I process thoughts or questions as they come to me as I read scripture.
I was reading Romans 1:18-29 “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. 26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. … 28 Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity …” (NIV)
The thought then occurred to me, beyond God’s infinite love, as it relates to us, it seems love is a two-way street. Jesus said, “And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.” Mark 12:30 (NLT2). The above passage teaches we are the ones who limit how much love we receive from God.
It brought to my mind the Detachment Disorder, a condition where a traumatic experience leaves a child incapable of loving, or narcissists who are so self-focused they cannot genuinely love others. Could it be that God longs to love us far more, but we are so caught up with ourselves, our worries, dreams, rationalism, pleasures of life, etc. to receive of His infinite love.
By giving our utmost to Him, we unlock our capacity to experience His endless affection. This works the same in a marriage. A spouse’s ability to give love is ultimately constrained by how much their partner is capable of receiving it. In other words, if we know a spouse or friend genuinely and deeply loves or cherishes us, we are much more able to selflessly do far more things for and with them. If we sense a person does not cherish us, it limits how we can express our love to them.
In principle, to the point we experientially receive God’s love and totally cast ourselves upon Him, to that point, God will be able to express His love to us. The more we discover of His infinite love and respond to it, the deeper and more intimate our relationship will be. The point is, if we want to experience God’s love, we must express our unselfish love for Him by seeking to know what the Bible teaches us about Him and His love and care for us.
My takeaway from this concept is a stronger motivation to express the selfless love in my heart for God in my daily life. I have experientially found that the more I have unselfishly devoted my worship and dependence upon Him, the more delight and gratification I have experienced. Reflecting on this concept compels me to increase my love and devotion to Him. How might pondering this concept affect you?
The more I love and the deeper my walk with God, the closer He will bring me to Himself!!