The Real Love of God

Instead of posting a corny picture of a cross or of a white Jesus holding his arms open wide, how about two angels in disguise.  "Keep on loving each other as brothers.  Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.  Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering" (Hebrews 13:1-3).

My true hope is that people didn't read the title, see the word "God" and move on to the next Hub. I hope that people saw the words "Love" and "God," and then thought to themselves, "Oh yeah, that makes sense." That's exactly why I felt compelled to write this. Somewhere between Jesus and now, something has gone wrong. I think something has been terribly skewed, and it honestly breaks my heart. When people see or hear the words, "God," "Jesus," or "Religion," they tighten up. They might get scared that someone is going to come around the corner and beat them over the head with a Bible. What's sad is that I'm a Christian and sometimes my heart beat quickens when I hear those words outside of church. Is someone going to come tell me I'm doing something wrong? Embarrass me? Tell me I'm a terrible person? I want people to know, including Christians, that this is NOT what the Bible teaches!

I've heard so many people who want nothing to do with God because they have heard His people being hateful. This hate shouldn't be there. Jesus wasn't hateful, ever. I read verses like "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with that measure you use, it will be measured to you" (Matthew 7:1&2). With this verse in mind I can see people holding signs in front of abortion clinics. I then wonder how they could have possibly thought that was a good idea. I read other words coming out of the mouth of Jesus like "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matthew 12:28&29). "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:34).  No one reads these verses and see hate of any kind.  Jesus is about love, and that's it.  Someone asked Jesus, what is the most important commandment, and he says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.  The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself.  There is no commandment greater than these" (Mark 12:30&31).

These kinds of verses are seriously everywhere in the Bible.  One of my favorite is James 1:27, "Religion our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: look after orphans and widows in their distress and keep oneself from being polluted by the world."  I love this verse because it spells out what I am supposed to do as a follower of Jesus.  Jesus also said, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 25:40).  This is telling us to treat others, especially those who need our help the most, as if they were Jesus, the Son of God.  Even you don't believe Jesus, the idea of treating "the least of these" as a divine, omnipotent, creating being, blows my mind.  We are to treat them better than Kings.  Doing that is the essence of what the Bible teaches us.  Love God, love one another as yourself.  

My final thought is this, as you think about the kind of Love that we are commanded to give one another and how humongous of a task that is, think about the Loving God that commanded it.  Don't think about how stupid human beings are and how we fall short of that Love every day of our lives.  Please see the God of Love.