Love Blog Series # 6.2.2: Does God need my love?

Have you ever asked this question?
Why did God "commanded" us to love Him?

Does God need my love?

I mean, He, our God, King of kings, Lord of lords, Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End, Creator of heaven and earth, commands us to love Him above everything and with everything that we got...

Our minds, our hearts, our bodies, our souls, our strength... He wants us to love Him. Why? What for?

He is the epitome, source and the very meaning of Love. He is Complete. He will not be sad like us when we are not love. He can erase the very existence of His creations if decides to. He will not feel incomplete even if we don't love Him. He is everything.

So why did He commands us to love Him in the first place?

Here is the reason: The command is for us, not for Him.

You don't get it? The reason He gave you that commandment is for our own good. It is not for Him, it is for us. He didn't create that 1st greatest commandment for us to love Him so that He will be loved and feel being loved just like us. He is the very source and epitome of Love and He is Love Himself thus He doesn't need to be loved just to be loved. The 1st greatest commandment (which encompasses the 1st three commandments God gave to Moses) is meant and created for us.

I can give you three (3) reasons why this greatest commandment is good for us.

1. We are wired, hard-programmed, and created to love... and in this commandment, Him. We search for love in all places. Why do we search it? Because love brings us joy. All of us has also this common reason of loving someone, it is because we are loved. And because we felt love we have joy. Man has the capacity to love because he felt loved first. The problem comes when we ourselves confuse the Giver of Love to something else and then we focus on that something else, we love this "something else" because we thought they give love to us... which brings me to the 2nd reason...

2. God does not and will not leave you... Period. Everything else will leave you, may it be your girlfriend, boyfriend, parents, loved-one, dog, cat, computer game, PC, cellphone, friends, work, academics, grades, bar, beer, money, and even that sexy woman over there... They will leave you. These "something else" will not be there for you always. In truth, The phrase "I'll always be here for you" will not be true always because I, too, also can leave you. So, If you love these things above everything else and give to them all you got... There is 100% even 200% guarantee, no-questions-asked, and pretty sure of it that they will leave you.

Isn't that truth destructive? Devastating? To love "something else" and to give this "something else" everything that you have only to find out that this "something else" will leave you alone... having an unrequited love? Only to find out that this "something else" does not and will not love you until eternity and will just again... leave you alone?

That's why God wants you to love Him... with everything that you have... To focus on Him alone. Yes, you can love your family, friends, work, boyfriend, girlfriend, pets... but they are only second to God. You give everything to God. Because He will never, ever, leave you. Believe me. Your love for Him is secured. Your everything is secured. And you will have fullness of joy until eternity because He is Eternity... He is Infinity. Your world will not crumble because He will always be there for you. Come to think of it, if You love Him, He will be your everything. Now, the reason why He will not leave you brings me to my last reason...

3. God loved, loves and will always love us... In the first place, we will never exist or even cease to exist if He doesn't love us. Because we are formed because of His love. Even everything else exists because of His love. That's why we are wired to love, because He loves. He is love. And in Him we are complete. We attain fullness of joy. That's why our everything is secured in Him because He is Everything.

And because He has loved us first, our response is to love Him back. It is now not a command but an act. A response to what is truly given to us. Because He wants you to be more like Him... Because He created you in His image and likeness... And Because Jesus is also the Father and the Father is also Jesus... and Jesus loves the Father... then we are to do the same... for this response of love to the Father is for us... He gave this so that you can have fullness of joy in His Love.

PS1. Watch out for the next topic in the series: Loving You

PS2. Watch out for our next topic series after this: Being Complete

Love Blog Series # 6.2.1: What's Love Got to Do with This?

"Hayyyyy... Love..."
But before we get mushy in this article... let's discuss the definition of love.
What is love anyway?

In the world today, there are many, many, many definitions pertaining to love. Most of them equate love as an intense surge of feelings or emotions. And many people would also say that it is irrational, does not have any reason, and simply a magical thing that people feel.

It may sometimes be connoted to love of country, romantic love, friendship, sexual love, love for thing, and even love for God. And many will say that these vast definitions of love are very unique to each other and are very different from each other. Many would say that these different kinds of love have different intensity of feelings also.

All in all, these boils down to one thing: Love is a feeling.

Pope Benedict, through his encyclical letter entitled: "Deus Caritas Est", wishes to address this very definition of love. Is it really a feeling, much like the Greek word, eros? Is love or true essence of it be ideal and almost impossible to grasp due to the many definitions and intensities to it? Is romantic love very different from the religious love or love for God? Can we be able to do the commandments?

What is really the definition of love?

To have a basic knowledge of it, we will have to use the sentence many of us will say in many different languages to express our love to the other:

"I love you"

Using basic English, this simple sentence represent two parts: A subject and a predicate.
The subject here is the word "I". The predicate here is the phrase "love you" which can be subdivided into two objects: A verb and a direct object. The direct object here is "you" and the verb word is "love".

By the very definition of verb as an action word, the word "love" can be connoted as an action.
We cannot express love if is not an action. And by the very definition of it... Love is an action, the doer of the action is "I" and the receiver of the action is "you".

By receiving the action means receiving the action word "love". And love cannot be received if it is not been given to the receiver.

So what is this love that is to be given? By the meaning of the title of the letter "Deus Caritas Est", it means: God is love. We are to give God as an action to the receiver. But how do we do that?

Looking at the first chapter of Genesis, we can see that we ourselves are made from the image and likeness of God. Thus, in action, we only not give our God... we ought to give ourselves.

Thus, the very essence of the true meaning of love. It is an act of self-giving... of self-sacrificing. This is agape used in the New Testament. Then, what are feelings then?

Feelings, the intense emotions that well up inside us, is a byproduct of that love. That is the pursuit defined by eros, supreme infinite happiness often equated to romantic love. Rather than a warped and destructive form of eros that is intoxicated and seeks to reach "divine happiness" for the purpose of feeling the pleasure of being "divine", true eros becomes pure and true when in pursuit of this kind of happiness we ought to give ourselves. Eros and Agape, although different, becomes one in the whole definition of love.

Love becomes one essence but in different manifestations. It is whole. It cannot be gauge into different intensities. It's either you give it whole, or you give an imperfect one. We cannot separate it into different things for if we separate it, we only get an impoverished form of it. And a "half-baked love" is not love at all.

People need love... We need to be loved... and the only thing that quenches that thirst is only through true and perfect love.

Thus, true and perfect love, again, is an action... an act... to give oneself to another... to sacrifice for one neighbor... to serve, give time and effort generously... and its byproduct will always be joy, peace, and love. The feelings that we get when we give generously.

For the more we give and share this love, the more we receive true and perfect love given and acted upon us by our generous God, who gave His Son Jesus, who died for us... just to ultimately define what true love is.



PS. Sorry for the late post, I have to read just part one of the Encyclical letter of the Pope just make this post more understandable and have more "meat" so to speak.

PS2. Watch out for the next topic in the series: Does God need my love?

PS3. Watch out for our next topic series after this: Being Complete

Love Blog Series #5: Extension to the Theory of Equivalent Exchange

Remember this theory?

The theory states that "for the exchange to take place, the two key players of the relationship must be somehow complete first before they give it to each other. As for this, they will take what the other has given and the cycle goes on. Because of their completeness, and their readiness, the give-and-take cycle becomes a natural process, like breathing and eating."

(for more explanation, see Love Blog Series #1: The Theory of Equivalent Exchange)

There's an extension to it, which will encompass all other relationships as well.

You may think that when a person gives his whole self to his partner, the partner is fulfilled and is complete from that love being given by her partner. Now I will disagree with that.

Because people are imperfect. We can't give perfect love... remember my last paragraph? That you can't give without being complete... and by being complete you must ask from God to give you first His complete and perfect love so that you can share it to others especially to your partner...

The receiver of love is not really receiving a perfect love from her partner if the love given does not come from God and the giver is not really giving himself and his love completely if the giver doesn't have the love from God.

Thus, the reality of this theory is that the reason behind the completeness of a person inside the cycle of love is not because of the love being completely given to us by the giver but because of the love being given by our Lord.

The cycle really becomes a natural process when we share and give that whole love from our Lord.

Our fulfillment of our needs is really not because of the person who give us love, but because the Lord fulfilled us first our needs (that is why we should be complete first before having a relationship... at this point, we will discuss it in our next topic: Being complete).

And in loving relationship, the Lord uses our partners as His instruments to show His perfect love for us again, and again, and again.

Making us complete again, and again , and again...

And having that kind of reality, we don't need to look after ourselves. Thus, we have more time to look after our partners needs... Because we ourselves are instruments of God to show His love for our partners.

Although this reality looks like that we fulfill them, it is really the Lord using us to love them completely. Isn't that amazing?

To conclude this topic, if you really love... or if I rephrase it: If you really want to love the person you are loving right now (may it be your parent, child, boyfriend, girlfriend, special some-one, spouse, friend) don't just give your imperfect love...

Ask for God to give you first His perfect love to you so that you could share and give His perfect love to others... remember this equation:

Perfect love tenfold = imperfect love from you + perfect love given to you from God

Don't worry about the cycle... you don't need the cycle for the fulfillment of your needs from your partner. Why? Because your needs are met by God's love! (I said it before and I'll say it again... you being complete will not come from your partner... period) The cycle will come and be a natural process after.

God's love is ought to be shared :D It makes His love increase tenfold :D

(Watch out for our next topic in our series: Two Simple Instructions)