Undefeated Love

There’s a belief or a saying, at least, that love conquers all. In the secular world the reference is to the power of emotional love to compel men and women to do extraordinary things. Love is said to move us to do the unthinkable with sometimes positive and in many instances    negative results. One of the reasons for this apparent that is “Love is blind.” Again, in this secular world nothing is or can be as reckless and misdirected as blind love.Now take the same saying and apply it with biblical references and it takes on a whole new meaning. Love conquers all. Just for thesake of giving an example, God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son. The greatest commandment is love ofyour neighbor as yourself. God is love. Out of love, we have been saved. From this perspective love takes on a set of characteristics that only result in positive endings.

I’m reminded that spiritual love differs from secular love in that one is conditional and the other is not. By that I mean love in this sense, from its biblical basis, is an unconditional state of being. Love, according to scripture, is a constant. It never ceases to be and it never ceases to give.

I believe that is what is meant by unconditional. Love by any other definition is not love. It is a perversion of God’s great gift to us. Love like faith requires covenant. I am moved by Daniel’s prayer,“O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with all who love Him and obey His commands…” Daniel 9:4. I must tell you that this sums up quite a bit for me about this subject. Unconditional love begets something less than unconditional love in return. So all of this begs the question how do you love someone? How do you attempt to love God? Unconditional does not mean undisciplined. It does not preclude commitment.

As a matter of fact scripture would indicate that you can’t have anything real happen in your life unless it’s based on the love about which I speak. Our entire existence is seen from the perspective of love of family, mother, father, wife, son, husband,fellow man, God. Jesus was crucified based on this love. I submit to you that our obligation to each other is to attempt tolove ourselves in such a manner as to recognize the God within us and to then appreciate the God in everyone else. We are then in a covenant relationship with self, each other and therefore in line with the covenant that God has with man. The endresult then must be a positive outcome. Jesus’ crucifixion had a positive outcome. I submit again that his very directed and guided love will always guarantee an outcome consistent with the wishes of God. Therefore again I say in this context love conquers all. It is our reason for being. It is the reason for our salvation “…God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in him.” 1 John 4:16.

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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