Skip to main content

Best Interest?

 Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.  (Psalm 97:9-10) 

 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (I Corinthians 13:4-8) 

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. (John 14:23)


Let those who love the Lord… I often say that the first step in any discussion is to define your terms. When one of those terms is love, I generally define the term as seeking what is in the best interest of the beloved. Others turn to the second passage, which I consider a description rather than a definition.  The distinction between definition and description is important but minor.

The problem with both the definition and the description is that they seem to fit better when one is considering the love of a greater to a lesser, or a stronger to a weaker. Why would God need anyone to seek what is in His best interests? Why would anyone need to be patient with perfection? Or kind to omnipotence? OK, it’s easy to see how the injunction against envy would be needed. God’s very being provokes envy because He’s perfect, but how can a love that “seeks what is in the best interest” be given to one who needs nothing? Should we treat Him as if He needs our help?

Maybe no one else struggles with this, but when I think in terms of doing what is in the best interest of the beloved, I tend to think in terms of a beloved who is weaker, lesser, younger, etc. Since God is none of those things, I need a little paradigm shift, and the last passage above provides a clue.

Is it reasonable to associate obedience to Christ’s teachings with doing what is in the best interest of the Beloved? Scripture seems to have no problem making the association but just for fun, let’s consider the logic. The wisest, all-knowing God has designed the universe and knows what is best for it and for us. While He needs nothing from us, if we are obedient, we are joining Him in seeking what is in the best interest of the universe, one another, and ourselves.

It is a natural fit because it is our firm desire that those who love us also support our loves. We would hardly look for a friend or significant other who specifically loathes, opposes, or otherwise rejects things that are important to us and actively interferes in our connection with them.

So, while we may ask ourselves if we are patient with God, kind to God, etc., we may better ask ourselves if we are patient with each element of God’s creation. Are we kind to each element?


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more