MY PERSPECTIVE, Gary Damron
Several weeks ago, we read about Jesus in the wilderness, where he faced hungers and desires. Satan came to suggest he could fulfill those needs in ways other than God had planned. But through Christ's victory, we learn ways to conquer our own temptations.
There are many desires, too numerous to categorize. Often discontentment comes from trying to fulfill our wants in our own way. But I propose that all legitimate desires can be satisfied by God, if we allow Him to supply our needs according to the way He created us.
St. Augustine, who lived 300 years after Christ, spent his early life searching for fulfillment, satisfaction, and happiness in all the wrong places. In his 30s, he found the Love of God while teaching at the University of Milan and discovered the answer to his search. He learned that God loved him, and that he loved God. Later he wrote a book called Confessions, in which he expounded on his journey. He announced to God the major theme of his work in the first paragraph, “You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”
Augustine concluded that sin comes from loving the creature more than the Creator. Since God created us so He could love us, and so we would love Him, the harmony of our existence depends on that relationship. Loving anyone or anything more than we love God is destructive and creates a separation. The results may be pride, selfishness, possessiveness, but they all come from misplaced love.
In the article and message from March 21st, we discussed God's love. We sometimes like to define the Greek word agape as unconditional love, but it is more than that. Only God is capable of true love, which is holy love. If we have any hope of loving, He must be the source. God's love always puts the best of the other first. It requires the wisdom and holiness of God, which is why Jesus told us to love "'even as I have loved you'" (John 13:34). It is sacrificial love, with self out of the way of its flow. We cannot generate it on our own, and once we find God's love, we can only pass it on.
Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy, "'"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself"'" (Matthew 22:37-39). Loving God is prioritized because we cannot love without first experiencing His love. Some people try to make verse 39 say that we must first love ourselves. However, direct references to loving our neighbors are found at least eight times in the Bible, but there are none about loving ourselves.
In the context, God is telling us to be unselfish in our love for others, which is possible only if we trust the God who loves and takes cares of us. There's a danger that if we begin to love ourselves, or even others, more than we love God, we begin to love the calling more than the One who calls. Or the blessings more than the One who blesses.
After Jesus' death and resurrection, Peter went fishing with his friends and had a blessed experience of God's provision. They all enjoyed a good breakfast, then Jesus put it to him this way. "'Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?'" (John 21:1-19). More than fishing, friends, provisions, even blessings, we must be careful not to love the gifts more than the Giver. Not to think of ourselves too highly or believe that our success is because of who we are or what we do. If we take an honest inventory, we must be sure we're loving the Creator more than the creature.
Paul wrote, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). When we love Jesus, the person who places our wellbeing first, we find spiritual treasures, eternal life, and holy love.
