Love and be loved

In a Google search of the "attributes of God" the following sentence appeared first: "In Western (Christian) thought, God is traditionally described as a being that possesses at least three necessary properties: omniscience (all-knowing), omnipotence (all-powerful), and omnibenevolence (supremely good)."

The apostle John made the statement "God is love". He did not just add love as one of the characteristics of God. Rather, he maintained that love is the very essence of God. The implication is that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have an eternal love relationship with one another. In the two creation narratives (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7) reference to God is made both in the singular and plural. Also, Adam became a living soul after God blew into his nostrils the "breath of lives". The word "chaiyim" which is translated "life" in most English translations is plural. It can be taken to mean that the life of Adam included many lives which were to be passed on from him to later generations.

If God is love and Adam was made "in his image" it follows that love should play a predominant role in Adam's life. That is why it was "not good for Adam to be alone". In the first creation narrative it is recorded that "in his image he created him, male and female he created them" and that "it was very good". After the creation of Eve the possibility existed for humans to give and receive love among one another. In fact, the procreation of the race depended on acts which were identified with love.

Is it any wonder that the enemy of God and of the human race should pervert what was to be acts of love into the satisfying of selfish desires? Over the centuries various physical defects have been transmitted by parents to their children. Also, behavioural patterns are learned by children from their parents and from the culture they find themselves in. Unnatural sexual desires had become commonplace among the nations where Christianity was first propagated. By unnatural I mean desires which are contrary to the purpose for which they were designed. The aberrant sexual habits of the heathen were suppressed when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman empire in 380 AD. After hundreds of years those practices have again become acceptable in Western Society.

Every person, made in the image of God, has a deep desire to love and be loved. The pervasiveness of popular love songs can be taken as proof of this fact. The ten commandments can be summed up in the words: "love God and love your neighbour" (Matthew 22:37-40; Luke 10:27). They are intended for our wellbeing.

When we look for love in places we are not intended to find it, we must not expect to be fulfilled in the way our Creator meant us to be. The results of such behaviour include unwanted pregnancies, the spread of STDs and gender dysphoria. Persons suffering from these are at a higher risk of anxiety, depression and victimisation. 

You may ask why there is so much hatred and animosity in the world. We are supposed to hate sin. But we are more inclined to hate sin in others than in ourselves (Luke 6:41-42). By doing so we then feel justified in hating the person, something which God never condoned. Instead, Jesus commanded his followers to love their enemies (Luke 6:27).

How to express love in the 21st century can be tricky to say the least. We used to have a bull terrier who loved rough playing. Several items of my clothing can be used as evidence of that fact. But the dog we got after Nosey had died was abused by previous owners. I dare not even make a threatening gesture or she turns compliantly on her back. No sense of humour. Nevertheless, we had to train her not to mess in the house, using treats as a bribe; we keep her on a choker chain when we go for a walk; and when she was unwell we forced medicine down her throat. I think some parents and legislators could rethink how children should be loved from our treatment of dogs.