Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Kissed on the Inside

We have all wondered about what the difference is between human love and God’s love. The scriptures tell us that God is love. It isn’t something He has. It is something He is. That simple fact transcends our understanding. What many of us try to do in order to understand God’s quality of love is that we attempt to explain it with human words and definitions. However, the Bible says that the world is deceived by the evil one so our ideas of love will be heavy influenced with his ideas of love, which really isn’t love.


The plain fact is that humans love from the outside. This is demonstrated by how we kiss the outside, and we all know what feelings and sensations that arouses. God, however, kisses the inside. We only know a person from the outside. The outside is what we see and perceive regarding a person. In addition we perhaps know something about a person from what she or he has told us. We have a very limited knowledge about what stirs a person and the inner processes that shape that person’s conduct and outlook.


God knows all those things. He knows the depths of our being. Our history is intimately known by Him. He knows perfectly well what stirs and motivates us. The patterns of behavior and thinking that make a person are all familiar to Him. We would easily be tempted to say that He loves us despite all His encompassing knowledge about us. It is so convenient to disparage our worth and our being when we marvel at His love. The truth is that we are created in His likeness. Thus we have the potential to understand His love. Moreover, we have the potential to love like He does.


Jesus was an example of us, that is, what is possible when flesh and Spirit is intertwined in a union where oneness with God is an established reality. To love like God is not a self improvement program, but life that flows from a person that is indwelled by God. If God is love so are we. Only faith can appropriate this amazing wonder.


To be kissed on the inside is such a new and unfortunately alien experience for us that it takes a huge job from the Spirit to convince us about what God is doing in our lives. He kisses our history, our thinking, our incentives, our inner person, yes, everything that we are. It is a perpetual love feast. His kisses find all those spots that hurt and confuse us. His kisses untangle those knots that make us cringe in fear and despair. Even when all those deceptions which have kept us in bondage all our lives are stamped out He continues to kiss us.

No comments: