Heavenly Love

How do you know if you love somebody? The Bible and a good portion of most modern and ancient literature talk about love. Love can be defined in so many ways that even for the most articulate people, love’s essence can be mystifying. There is physical love (supposedly), parental love, and, of course,emotional love.  There is love that comes from commitment.  There is love that comes fromcommitment.

Apparently, one can only be in love with a relationship if one bases it on a perspective from which to understand. Love is probably the most misunderstood concept that mankind will ever have to deal with, yet it is perhaps the most talked about and recorded in the annals of time.

The reason I pose the question is that our relationship with God, first and foremost, is supposed to be based on love, His love for us, and the reciprocation of that love by us to Him. Since there is so much riding on this, it would be appropriate to consider the question. How do you know if you love the Lord when the concept of love itself is so fleeting in the physical world? I mean, people fall in and out of love every day. Love can often turn into hate at the drop of a hat or a hint of betrayal. If you are honest with yourself, love can be eroded out of neglect, mistreatment, jealousy, unmet expectations, and hurt. If I’ve got this right, God has never stopped loving us. I don’t know about you, but I’ve got some humongous flaws and faults as a human being, and somehow, despite it all, He still loves me and knows everything about me. At times, that seems impossible because if I knew what He knows about the things I’ve done or have been a part of, love might not be the first thing I’d be offering to me. Forgiveness and mercy come with a price down here on earth. Now, it becomes clear that love is not a physical concept. It

is a spiritual one, one based on heavenly things. So, to answer the question, one must first look to the heavens for the answer rather than seek the answer in earthly terms. Love, then, must take on Godlike characteristics. You, therefore, know you love someone when you can accept them as children of the Lord, your brethren. Their souls are as pure as any God created, like your own, and despite whether they know it or not, accept it or not, reject it or not, God’s love for them is permanent, eternal, and unconditional. So you know you love someone when you want them to open up enough to recognize that no matter what they’ve done, said, or imagined, God still loves them, won’t ever give up on them, and will fight the devil himself for the soul within them.

I know I love someone when I’m able, or at least willing, to try and forgive their transgressions, particularly those aimed at me. I know I love someone when I can let go of the earthly constraints of a shortsighted definition of love. That includes my jealousy, pride, ego, materialism, and lust. I can use and manipulate any one of these circumstances to claim love lost. Or can I be manipulated by any of these earthly symptoms to declare love no more? None of this, however, gets to the heart of real love.

First and foremost, I’ve got to acknowledge my love for God. That sets the tone and gives me the model for loving someone else. I know I love someone else if I see God in them. They then deserve it; no, then I’m obligated to give them everything in the way of love God has given me.

Even the vilest person on the planet has someone who loves the essence of who they are. God loves the essence of who I am. I now know that I love someone when I love the essence of who they are. After all, their essence is made in the image of God, and given that, unconditional love is easy. Finding the essence is the goal.

May God bless and keep you always.

This column is from “Spir­itually Speaking: Reflections for and from a New Chris­tian” by James Washington. You can purchase this en­lightening book on Amazon and start your journey to­wards spiritual enlighten­ment.

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