God is Love

When I started this blog a couple of years ago, my plan was to further examine my faith.  When I lived in Canada, I started a project about all of the words that can be used to describe God.  Outside of the words referring to God specifically, through Hebrew or Greek language, as Savior, Messiah, Father, Yahweh... you know. 

I'm not sure how I never got to what I consider the MOST IMPORTANT characteristic of God in my personal life--LOVE. 

1 John 4:8--Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.


Psalm 36:7--How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

Psalm 86:15--But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

Psalm 136:2--Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.
  
Matthew 22:37--Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 

Mark 12:30--Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

Luke 10:27--He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ ; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

John 3:16--For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 16:27--No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.

Romans 5:5--And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Romans 5:8-- But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 8:39--neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That's just a snippet.  In the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible, the word love is mentioned 551 times. 

Here's what I interpret the Bible to say about God's love.  God loves us.  God loves us a whole lot.  Like enough to send His son to die for our sins because He loves us so much.  God wants us to love others.  If we love others, it brings us closer to God.   God COMMANDS Christians to love others.  Jesus made this point clear by reminding his apostles that this is the greatest command.  Like, above the ten commandments.  Whoa.  There's a command above the ten commandments?  That's what I've interpreted from the passages in the New Testament.

Here's what I interpret the Bible to say about salvation.  Jesus took care of that for us.  It's not our job to save others.  It's our job to love others with the love of Jesus and to be an example of the love of Christ.  If I love others with the love of Jesus, I am demonstrating my belief in God to others.  I am also demonstrating the peace and freedom I have received through my belief. 

I also know not everyone believes in the same God I do, or they don't believe in the same Savior as I do if they do believe in the same God.  (Islam and Judaism both worship the same God I do.  GASP).  Allah=creator of Adam and Eve, father of Abraham, Master and Commander of the Universe.  I think most Western Christians understand the relationship of Judaism and Christianity enough to understand that we are worshipping the same God. 

Despite our varying beliefs, I am still commanded to love God and love others.  Above all else.  Love God and love others.  Love God and love others.  Love God and love others.  It's that important to me.  I don't get to judge.  I don't get to condemn.  I get to love.  What an amazing gift I have received.

I believe God shares our joys AND our sorrows.  I believe He laughs when we laugh and cries when we cry.  I guess I'm writing this because my heart aches for those who believe in a God who sent his son to die on the cross but don't understand my interpretation of God's greatest commandment.  A part of me wants to slip into the judgment and condemnation because it makes me so angry to see my fellow Christians hurting those who are not Christians.  We may be called to hate behaviors or actions (that's very loosely interpreted in my opinion), but we are never called to hate "nonbelievers."  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE. 

I grew up a member of the Church of Christ and am grateful for the foundation laid by my family members during my youth which I was able to build and expand upon in adulthood.  Part of the COC doctrine is that we spend some time during corporate worship praising God through a cappella singing.  One song I love is called

The Greatest Commands

Alto:
Love one another, for love is of God.
He who loves is born of God;
And knows God.
He who does not love, does not know God,
For God is love, God is love, God is love.

Bass:
Love bears all things,
Believes all things,
Love hopes all things,
Endures all things.

Tenor:
God is love, God is love, God is love.
God is love, God is love, God is love.
God is love, God is love, God is love,
God is love, God is love, God is love.

Soprano:
Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
With all thy soul, all thy strength,
All thy mind.
Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
For God is love, God is love, God is love.

Whoa!  Radical!  I'm going to end with a passage from a paper I recently wrote about my understanding of spirituality right now.  Maybe it will explain my views a little better.

Understanding of spirituality and religion now

God does not hate, but he is sad when humankind lives in war, anger, and pain 

God cries when I cry

I can be a Christian and still:

o   Practice meditation

o   Dance

o   Listen to instrumental music

o   Drink in moderation

o   Have a mental illness

o   Seek therapy or need psychotropic medications

o   Be in the company of others with other religious or non-religious views AND be friends and love them

God sent Jesus to be the savior-it’s not my job or calling to save anyone

God wants me to love everyone

Everyone has a gift—mine comes from my understanding of my God and has the purpose of leading my life

God would never condone murdering or rage or hatred against others with different beliefs (especially in His name) and made that quite clear in the New Testament

The New Testament carries more weight than the Old Testament for my personal practice

I can hold hands and live in harmony with atheists

My understanding of God is not everyone’s understanding of God, the world, or anything that is greater than this world

One other--this might make some people angry, so if you're sensitive to political jargon you should refrain from reading further.





I believe Jesus would agree with communism as an ideal society.  This is not communism in the political jargon-y sense so much as communism in the sense of "What mine is yours, and what's yours is mine."  Everything we have is a gift from God, and we are called to share our gifts and talents.  We are not called to build wealth for houses, cars, boats, or even college.  Maybe in another blog I'll explain further about my belief in Jesus as a communist.  I've got plenty of verses to back me up.  :)  I also believe Jesus was a social worker.