Faith, hope and love is certainly a concept that most Christians will appreciate from the book of Corinthians written by the Apostle Paul. As a Christian of some 32 years, I would probably say that I understand this concept myself fairly well but am also aware that God by his Holy Spirit continues to download new understanding.
Recently, my wife discussed another concept from scripture which is not as clear cut as it does not come from one particular passage of scripture but is certainly an underlying concept throughout God's word. That concept is Love, Empathy & Freedom.
Whilst most will know that God is love and therefore true love can only ultimately come from God to us and therefore through us to those around us, it is also clear that true love stems from the understanding we have of how God manifests his love to us.
Throughout scripture God's love is written in the Greek as "agape" love, a love that is completely sacrificial and always has the recipient in mind. We often quote from the book of Romans, 5:8 which says "God demonstrates his love for us, that whilst we were still yet sinners Christ died for us." This scripture I believe brings amazing revelation that even though God had no guarantees of his love being reciprocated that he still carried out his plan of salvation for us.
It is difficult to imagine scenarios that we experience that reflect the emotion and feelings God has for us His creation. After all, we know through scripture that "nothing can separate us from the love of God". But there are certainly glimpses we have that help us to feel what God feels towards us, his beloved children. I as a father, have two beautiful teenage children and though there was always an expectation that they would one day spread their wings and explore the world for themselves, nothing can prepare us for when that begins, as it is with me right now.
Seeing my children grow and develop into amazing people and reflect for themselves the nature of God in makes me immensely proud of them. But not having them around as much as I would like is also immensely difficult. Yet this was expected and though it hard to except I also know this must take place and will do everything I can as a loving father to make this transition as joyous as possible for them.
What then, do we feel when those we don't expect leave us, when they feel they must for whatever reason and separate themselves from us? This might be a family member or a close friend, how do respond to this? This is exactly what Love, Empathy & Freedom is all about. For if we truly love as God loves, then we will also understand (empathise) how the other person feels, even when this might break our own hearts.
Whilst God extends his love to us, I know also that he truly understands how we feel, perhaps even better than ourselves. Though He calls us into relationship with him, he understands the limitations we might have within ourselves to express that relationships in precisely the way he desires. This can be seen in scripture like Romans & Corinthians which says that only God knows what's in the heart of man.
If God is love, and God truly understands (empathises) us, how does God give us freedom? Whilst man made religion will try to constrain us with expectations of how we must relate to God, God does not! He releases us in love to express in our own way the love we have for him. Though he calls, he is very patient and leaves us with the promise that "He will never leave us or forsake us" as we read in Matthew 28.
God's love is therefore permanent, powerful and perfect in all it's ways. It is this love that we truly need in our lives. As a human, living in this flesh, I accept that this is a difficult thing to grasp, yet also know that if I truly wish to express God's love through me to those around me is something that I must learn. Indeed something that we all must learn!
This might be summed up in the saying that "if we love someone, then let them go. If they love you, they will return".
God bless you on your journey of salvation,
James
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