I think I may have stumbled upon a beautiful little truth today. Lately I have been dwelling on this idea of God loving me and being loved by Him. Oftentimes I tend to assume that God loves humanity, not humans. It is as if my mind assumes there is a predetermined amount of love to be doled out and each person receives their share and no more. Then I stopped to consider how I conduct myself in this realm of love (let’s be honest what do I really know about love…). When I find a person to choose to love I act entirely different in their presence. They receive my time and my priority. They are treated with deference and preference simultaneously. I give them the privilege of access to all that is mine. I will make sure they are heard and considered above and before others. I offer them the right to request more of me and expect me to come through for them. What I would rarely do for an average person I will usually do for them without much if any hesitation.
Now to be clear as a human I am only able to have this intimate of a relationship with a minute number of individuals and even then I will not always love them well. However, these are the two monumental differences between my love and the love of God. He loves every human on an incredibly individual basis and His love is unquestionably perfect. The way that I love a few is how He loves the multitudes and His love is not in any way diminished because He cannot know the concept of insufficiency.
Truth be told, I love loving people well. I get a thrill out of remembering and paying attention to what brings them life. I actually like when they take advantage of being in relationship with me and ask things of me. I enjoy being needed and relied upon. I consider it a privilege to give of myself to and for them. So, if I am this way as a fallen human being how much more beautiful and sweet is the love that God lavishes on us as his redeemed sons and daughters.
Until next time…
MB
