Faith is How to Love God Back
And love is always a choice.
Because I believe it, I’m happy to repeat it.
True Love comes from God.
It is a part of his nature.
It is built into the fabric of the universe He created and is behind the laws He declared — like the Ten Commandments and every other instruction He has provided us — all of it, although at times it doesn’t feel like it is for our best good.
Many over the centuries have pointed out that True Love pursues the object of its love within certain self-imposed restrictions in order to always permit free choice.
This is the permission of the Beloved (us) to reject God’s love and strike out on her/his own.
We need look no further than Adam and Eve choosing to disobey God’s clear instructions to see that (1) God accepts their decision to disobey, (2) their disobedience sets up a chain of horrific events, and (3) God changes his strategy on how he will be able to pursue people trapped behind enemy lines.
This, by the way, describes quite well where we live.
People when stripped down to their naked selves have nothing God needs.
Fortunately, there is something God wants that is in alignment with his holy nature.
He wants our hearts, aka love, and we can only trust through a decision called “faith” that this is enough to come into his presence.
Everything else we posses is tainted and impure.