Let’s think about this logically.
God made man in His image, the image of love (See last post).
But he didn’t just make these mature beings who would know the very power and purpose of love. He made Adam and Eve and gave them a choice: to love him or to love themselves. Surprise of surprises, they chose themselves over Him. We all do. Every day. Which is where the concept of sin came from.
Here. I’ll make an acronym for it. Selfish Intentions Named Supreme. That is what our sins are. Straight up.
Make sense?
Because every day God chooses us over himself. Every day God chooses to love us.
In fact, Jesus, the exact representation of the father, decided to give up his place in heaven watching us… So he could walk with us… Be hated by us… And then.. Get beaten and die. And not just get beaten and die, but be forsaken by God. And now he sits in heaven not just watching over us, but spending his time Pleading for our lives, giving his life still every day so that we can be whole. Reminding his father of what he did.
Not that God forgets. But we see it everywhere in the bible, “Remember your servant oh Lord…” and especially with Israel, in Genesis and Exodus. Moses reminds God over and over again of God’s promises.
Honestly, I think God likes being reminded. Because when you’re reminded of a moment that was important to you, a moment that still is important to you, it takes you to that moment and you re-live it for a moment. It also means that the person reminding you remembers it to. That that moment is not forgotten by the others, that it still holds importance and that it hasn’t been cast off. Moses still holds to the promises God made, and because Moses remembers and wants to keep it still, doesn’t want it broken off and isn’t rejecting it, it means God has a partner….
But that’s an entirely different subject.
See, most people think the opposite of love is hate. But let me tell you why it’s not. Let me explain why it’s selfishness.
Firstly we have to have a right definition of love. What does that mean? Does it mean you want to be close to someone all the time? That you want to take care of them? And hold their hand? And kiss them and make out with them and then marry them? Well, sure those can be Related to love. As in, affects of love.
But this is not love.
Loving is giving. In first and second John, he writes that Love is that we walk according to Gods commandments. (Don’t believe me? Go find it. I gave you the books didn’t I?)
Obviously this is not the only definition of love. But it’s the definition I’m working with right now we can discuss others later.
(you: discuss? I don’t see much discussing here.) Well, maybe if you commented we could have an actual discussion but so far there’s been no one to actually discuss With.
Anyways.
To Love is to Obey God’s commands. (You: well that sounds… Painful. And useless. How can that be love?)
Well, to get back to genesis and exodus, notice how obedience results in good things. In fact, in all of the OT (Old Testament). Like… David loves God with all of his heart (which, speaking of God’s commands psalm 119 is dedicated to God’s law.) and look, he became a king. Of all Israel. And then his son became king. And generations later, he becomes the many time great grandfather of the son of God.
Not that it was a cake walk. But he waited on God. Instead of saying, “God why not now can’t I be king Now and do whatever the heck I want now?” he waited for God’s timing. Meaning, the selfish ex-king Saul chased him all over the Middle East trying to kill him.
See, Saul was a good person. But he didn’t follow God’s commands, instead he chose what would make himself look better and feel better. He loved himself, not God. So the spirit of God left him and he was tormented by demons and had no rest and died knowing he had separated himself from the destiny God had had for him.
That is probably the best contrast of love and not love.
David does slip up once or twice, I know. Bathsheba, instead of leading his army in war he decided to love himself and to give himself a vacation, which lead to him stealing another man’s wife, which led to pain.
See, selfishness was his sin. Selfishness was Saul’s sin. (You: Yes yes I get the point. Selfishness is a sin.)
So, think about every sin and ask yourself, what’s the core reason for it? Adultery? Is pretty much always done for pleasuring self. So selfishness. Lying? Is used to protect self or to get self things. So selfishness. Murder? Is used to punish for a “wrong” done to self. So selfishness. Stealing? Is used to get things for self. So selfishness.
Sin is Love. Love of Self.
(You: But, what if a man is stealing because his family can’t afford food?)
It’s still a sin because instead of leaning on God for protection, he is choosing his own strength. He is choosing himself, saying his decisions are greater than Gods and that he can provide better than God the provider can.
God, who rained bread from the sky to feed thousands of people.
The God of the Old testament has not changed. But we, in our weakness, want to say he has because he has not saved us when we wanted to be saved. He has not provided for us when we wanted to be provided for.
He has not given us what we want, so why should we give him anything?
But see here’s the thing: All that we deserve is Death. We have, ever since Eve denied God and chose to benefit herself by eating the fruit, consistently chosen ourselves.
God loved us first. He made us in his image, he gave us his own breath, and then to save us his own son, literally a part of him, became one of us and lived selflessly so he could (still selflessly) die.
He already did the hardest thing. But we think it’s too hard to let go of ourselves and to be take care of.
Isn’t it funny? All God wants us to do is follow his commandments so that he can take care of us, but we don’t think it’s fair that we have to do what he wants instead of what we want?
As if we can satisfy our own souls.
Comments are welcome, arguments are welcome. You can find everything in the bible; 1st and 2nd Samuel have David and Saul’s lives, Psalms has David’s personal cries to God… Etc.
Blessings, and I hope you love today J
~Silver
