Yes, There is Good News! Part 12

And so we have given some thought to the three aspects of how we are to love God.  Someone may say, “Now I know something about loving God, how is that good news?” 

I believe that is a fair question.  But in asking the question one must assume that good news comes only from receiving something and not in giving something.  And from a purely human standpoint I must disagree with this assessment.  True joy comes to us when we can give of ourselves to another.  It is only a child that believes joy comes from receiving.  The anticipation of a gift on the part of a youth can be delightful to watch.  Why?  Because we can understand the maturity level held by a child.

When an infant is born the maturity level stands at a flat zero.  There is only room for growth.  How much love does the baby have for others?  The answer is also zero.  A new-born has needs, many needs and one of the greatest needs it has is for love.  The love a mother and father have for the infant is inherently great enough to make up for the lack of love in the child.  One might say that the “love” that a human has is directly proportional to the level of maturity that exists in the human.  Allow me to make another formulaic statement:  the level of maturity that exists in a human is directly proportional to the joy he or she receives in giving of self to another.  Maturity and love for others travel hand in hand!

OK so let’s not get too out of hand.  We are talking about love for God and how that can be the good news we are looking for.  But we also made the analogy of an infant’s love for a parent.  The love of a parent will teach the infant how to love.  And so it is with our Father in Heaven.  The scripture leads us to this same conclusion.  The epistle of 1 John is said to be the “love book” in the bible.  And the topic of love comes to an apex in the fourth chapter.  As we make our way down this chapter and its many comments on love, we come to the 19th verse wherein we read, “We love because He first loved us”.

Can we just stop here and ponder the fact that even before we understood that there was a God, even before we knew who that God was, even before the atheist will admit that there is a God, He loved us!  Yes, He even loved that atheist.

In the preceding chapter of 1 John, chapter 3, we read in verse one, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are.”  Now don’t get me wrong, I can not as of yet place everyone on this earth as being called children of God.  But you….you are reading this column and I pray that you are being lead to see God’s love for you and so are coming to see what manner of love you are to have for this Father of ours.

To be continued ……. Stay tuned!!!