"God is Love"

[Arthur Dietrich]

I was just thinking about this claim 'God is Love'. Personal, I don't think He quick to claim that abstract title nor do I think Christians should be so quick to give it to Him.


Why? Well, in all the time I have lived (short though it may be) I don't think I have known anything as tormenting and/or confusing as 'love'. As for God being Perfect Love (tm)...well, maybe perfect love is being torn apart or being thrown down from a very high state of jubilation. Maybe it's having your soul raped by spider demons.

Then again, love can be so beautiful...so comforting and wonderful. Almost very painfully so.

I think it is something we can never grasp.

Then, there are different kinds of love. The kind you feel for a lover, for a friend, for a child, etc...

For some reason, when reading the statment "God is Love" I get the impression people are thinking of a wonderful, comforting, painless feeling that cannot be described but, at the same time, is very simple.

If God IS love...then I know no human being will ever understand Him. Love it just too complicated XP

Ok...enough rant...

 

[water_ripple]

I was just thinking about this claim 'God is Love'. Personal, I don't think He quick to claim that abstract title nor do I think Christians should be so quick to give it to Him.


Why? Well, in all the time I have lived (short though it may be) I don't think I have known anything as tormenting and/or confusing as 'love'. As for God being Perfect Love (tm)...well, maybe perfect love is being torn apart or being thrown down from a very high state of jubilation. Maybe it's having your soul raped by spider demons.

Then again, love can be so beautiful...so comforting and wonderful. Almost very painfully so.

I think it is something we can never grasp.

Then, there are different kinds of love. The kind you feel for a lover, for a friend, for a child, etc...

For some reason, when reading the statment "God is Love" I get the impression people are thinking of a wonderful, comforting, painless feeling that cannot be described but, at the same time, is very simple.

If God IS love...then I know no human being will ever understand Him. Love it just too complicated XP

Ok...enough rant...

Arthur where are you going and where are you at? (just a spiritual metaphor to contimplate)

You are very correct that no human can fully understand God..for noone can delve into the depths of His mind.

The closest way we can relate to God's love for us is the way in which we love our own children. Even that is hard to explain. I am a mother of two, and those little children are like pieces of my soul. The love I have for them is unconditional, but when they are doing something that can hurt them I must as a parent set them on the right path once again. Sometimes that means giving them a choice in which they must deal with the consequences...This of course is not a cut and dry task..it not only takes the mind but more importantly the heart and soul.

We may rest assured of God's love for us for He sacraficed Himself for our sake..which is exactly what a loving and concerned parent would do. That my friend is what faith and love are all about.

BTW it has taken all of my life to become a Christian..Am I stubborn? O Yeah.

 

[Charles Darwin]

Do you mean to say that all love between humans is caused by gods will and his love for us? Or is this simply "Lets describe how complicated god love is"? Just confused is all =P

 

[water_ripple]

Do you mean to say that all love between humans is caused by gods will and his love for us? Or is this simply "Lets describe how complicated god love is"? Just confused is all =P

Neither. It is a love so simple and complete that it is hard to understand...When we love somebody stupid things get in the way..Things like arrogance and pride and resentment...Ya know like the arguments you have with people that are absolutely ridiculos, but the love one has for their child is so pure that it is rather undescribable. The love lives inside, and you would give your life to save the life of your child. That is exactly what God did for us. There is no doubt in my mind about the love of the Father..for even though I pale in comparison the love I have for my kids..I can only grasp at the dust specks of God's love for us.

 

[Arthur Dietrich]

I have a terrible habit of spilling my thoughts out without bothering to make sure they make sense. I type "Well..this...but, then this...but then if this is this...then that....then that..., then again...this..etc..etc..etc..", which does get confusing XP

I think the point is love is so complex and abstract. "God's Love" or "Perfect Love" may not be 'love' at all, but something we've yet to define. Maybe even something that we've yet to name. We just call it 'love' because, I dunno, it seems to fit/is the closest we can come.

I suppose you could describe the love for one's child as 'perfect love', but then...I would risk my life out of love for a friend, a pet, even a stranger if I had to. Like I say though, there are different 'kinds' of love. The love you have for your spouse/lover. The love you have for your children. The love you have for chocolate. Etc... all expressed and often felt in different ways.

If it is possible for God to be an abstract term such as love, yet we cannot understand/describe God's love..well...maybe God isn't love. As suggested above, maybe he's something we haven't named/defined/known. Maybe He's Wquayn. or Hiyalio. or Aegranssl. or Foon.

So, we shouldn't label God as being 'love'. However, we (or you...seeing as I'm not a Christian) do because we can grasp the concept of 'love'

 

[water_ripple]

I have a terrible habit of spilling my thoughts out without bothering to make sure they make sense. I type "Well..this...but, then this...but then if this is this...then that....then that..., then again...this..etc..etc..etc..", which does get confusing XP

I think the point is love is so complex and abstract. "God's Love" or "Perfect Love" may not be 'love' at all, but something we've yet to define. Maybe even something that we've yet to name. We just call it 'love' because, I dunno, it seems to fit/is the closest we can come.

I suppose you could describe the love for one's child as 'perfect love', but then...I would risk my life out of love for a friend, a pet, even a stranger if I had to. Like I say though, there are different 'kinds' of love. The love you have for your spouse/lover. The love you have for your children. The love you have for chocolate. Etc... all expressed and often felt in different ways.

If it is possible for God to be an abstract term such as love, yet we cannot understand/describe God's love..well...maybe God isn't love. As suggested above, maybe he's something we haven't named/defined/known. Maybe He's Wquayn. or Hiyalio. or Aegranssl. or Foon.

So, we shouldn't label God as being 'love'. However, we (or you...seeing as I'm not a Christian) do because we can grasp the concept of 'love'

What distinguishes God from the love of a lover or a friend or a pet or a stranger is that all of us equally are considerd His children..It's not a regional kind of thing like a certain ethnic group is only worthy of..and that is what gave the Jewish people a stumble when Christ entered onto the stage..for they thought that only the "law" was the stuff of salvation and righteousness..when infact it is truly out of love that the law is fufilled. Hence Christ.

Arthur I do not know if you have any children or not...A way that may describe how one loves their children is with the mind, heart, and soul. Not three seperate creatures..rather a whole and encompassing. I can honestly say that if my children turned out to be everything I was against that I would still love them although it would deeply agrieve my heart...they would be allowed back at any time under any circumstances..for when they hurt I hurt as well. And when one is reconciled although it may take some time for adjustment what matters is that they are restored (possibly though not unscathed..the trials of life can wound us, but perseverance gives us character and strength). When a child is faced with that sort of love upon return all those years hiding in shame or rebellion seems futile.

Spelling your thoughts out like that is a good way to seek answers. If you are truly seeking answers to what God's love is like read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Those books in the NT contain soley the teachings of Christ. I see that you are not a Christian, but by reading the teachings of Christ (and internalizing them) the love of God for His children will start to make more sense. If you really wonder what this is all about go and seek from the source which is traced back to the ancient time..seek the answers with the heart.

 

[dan00000]

http://thetruth.hypermart.net/bible/atrocities.htm

Seeking the source.

 

[revolutio]

I always interpreted that as having an implied "avatar of" in there.

 

[Blissman]

I think that this is complicated by the fact that there is no universal definition of love or of it's consequences. Love can be simple and pure, such as the love of a child for it's parents, or of a pet. Other than that is complicated to grasp both at the time, and then later.

 

[Lyle]

I was just thinking about this claim 'God is Love'. Personal, I don't think He quick to claim that abstract title nor do I think Christians should be so quick to give it to Him.

But, does not the Bible say He is?

Then again, love can be so beautiful...so comforting and wonderful. Almost very painfully so.

Love was made and intended to be this way (beautiful, loving, caring, hopeful). But the perfect love that God has and is, is not quiet what humans know. You see, since sin enter into the world, all of God's creation has been distorted to some degree or another. Humans know love on a few different levels as you have stated...
Like
Charish
Love


That would sum it up well, though there are different degrees to everyone one.

For some reason, when reading the statment "God is Love" I get the impression people are thinking of a wonderful, comforting, painless feeling that cannot be described but, at the same time, is very simple.

The truth is a river
Where the strong can swim in deep
And the weak and the broken
Can walk across so easily

Though i have to agree with you, many people mistake "God is love," for God is the happy God (or as jehoveh's Witnesess like to believe). God is love doesn't mean He is the happy God, or it would prove Him false throughout the Old Testiment. But he's not...

If God IS love...then I know no human being will ever understand Him. Love it just too complicated XP

Oh, I agree, i don't think anyone will either. But this isn't because love is too complicated. It's because He's God and we'll never understandHim fully. it's just as when He did somehting in the Old testiment that amazed everyone, it's not because He's love and love is confussing.. It's because he's God and is so far above our simple human minds.....