I'm certain that God loves us. But how much? It's very precious that he loves us as his dear children. However, I have always thought that his love is not that special when people tell me that he loves everyone of us the same. Consider your boyfirend, you love him and you would want him to love you more than other people. Otherwise, he might as well just be your normal friend. THis is the same with god. We love him and sometimes, because we are still human and are self-centered, we want god to response to our love and do so in a special way.
Well... but god loves and treats us all the same. Though it's fair(he doesn't love anyone more than another), it's not speaical. THough his love for everyone is unique (he provides each one of us with what we need the most), his love is longer reserved.
Yet, sometimes, it seems that while god love one person, he hates another. He is also willing to forgive some, but not others. EG: God forgave King David but not Saul. Is God unfair or is he fair???
I am really confused Plz help me out ^.^""
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Psalm 84:11
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.
1. God loves David and Saul equally. God loves Saul so much that he gives him "free will" to accept his love and choose his own consequence. Remember David could kill Saul easily 2 times but he let him go. However, Saul did not turn back to God (repent) and he chooses his way to self-destruction. So, it's fair love.
2. quote: "Otherwise, he might as well just be your normal friend."
The difference between a friend, good friend, best friend, whatever and your boyfriend is not the amount of love, but that your boyfriend is the only person with whom you will 1) make your marriage covenant and 2) have sexual relations.
3. quote: "Consider your boyfirend, you love him and you would want him to love you more than other people."
O, what kind of love is that? Don't you want others (e.g. your boyfriend's father, mother, brothers, sisters, ex-gf, friends, etc) to receive the "full" love from your boyfriend too? This "love" might seem v. good on appearance, but think clearly. If you constantly have to worry whether your boyfriend is treating you better than others, do you have security in this love? No. You will constantly live in a fear that he will love others more than you. (Read 1John 4:18) This love is not perfect love, as our satisfaction is not 100% & perfect.
Also, you mixed up the concept of finite & infinite love. For humans, we constantly want someone to love us in a way, the more, the better. Why? Because human's conditional love is finite and there exist differences in love magnitude among different people you know. Our satisfaction cannot be 100% and, the more love we receive, the better. However and luckily, God's unconditional love is infinite and our satisfaction is 100% and there exists no difference in love anymore (no need to envy anymore).
Is God's love special? Well, God has saved your life 2 times on Oct 11, judge it yourself.
Finally, if you really want to be 100% satisfied in love, you need to love without expecting a reward, instead of merely receiving love. Or else, you will never be satisfied no matter who loves you and how much he loves you.
God bless you. "seek and you shall find", amen
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Psalm 84:11
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.
Joe, thank you for your answer. I really really really do appreciate it
I especially like the verse: There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4)
Yet I am not perfect, can I love god perfectly? Honestly, I am afraid at this stage I cannot. This is perhaps the biggest barrier between god and I. I know he loves me, but when I look around, I think that he loves many people more than he loves me. For example, when I look at another girl who is prettier than I am, I'd think why god is so unfair and gave her more beauty than he gave me? For I remember somewhere in the bible it stated that” beauty is one of god's choicest gift" (sorry, I really can't find it again ^^") I often think not only am I not pretty, I have no other gifts (like intelligence, good temper, patience etc). This is when I really doubt god's love for me. I am really not a special person. Therefore, although god's love is infinite, he only gave a very tiny potion of his love for me.
You know, god’s love could be looked at very differently sometimes. It’s true that he saved me 2x during the bike ride, it could also because he is playing me and prolonging my miseries.
This is perhaps the biggest barrier between god and me. I can’t feel his love. Perhaps I have not overlooked myself and look at the wonderful little things that he has done for me all long.
Yes Joe, you are right that I am very insecure. I guess it has to do with my very low self-esteem. And I really thank you for reminding me that I should love without asking for return. It is really an important thing. ^^ I should really keep that in mind~~
I pray that God will bless all of us and that he will reveal himself more clearly to us.
__________________
Psalm 84:11
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.
After searching all over for an answer, I finally have found a solution ^^ THx god
This is what I think now:
Yes, God does love everyone equally, but it is up to each one of us to decide the quality of our relationship with him. We can either choose to respond coldly or warmly to his wonderful love for us.
So, now I think God is really perfect! Not only is his love fair, (he even love a horrible sinner like me ) he also gives us the free will to decide our relationship with him! I guess from today on, I really got to pray more, seek him more and read the bible more!
Amen! My problem is solved. Thank god and thank everyone for your support
-- Edited by jane at 06:39, 2004-12-05
__________________
Psalm 84:11
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.
