The topic today is love
I talked about love on Sunday, and specifically about Agape love
God's kind of love
About love that "creates value" rather than "seeks value"
But its not that easy is it.
How can I love, lets say, Newt Gingrich, whose policies I believe to be deadly to the vulnerable?
How does a woman who has been abused "agape love" an abuser?
It gets complex doesn't it?
How does one love someone, without allowing that person to escape the consequence of their behavior, if consequences are necessary? How can one love someone who as abused them without enabling further abuse, and getting sucked back into a relationship that is ultimately destructive?
I don't have any good answers.
But I will come back to these thoughts about love
Agape love creates value and doesn't demand it
But agape love also challenges us to be who God created us to be.
Agape love has compassion, and moves us to be concerned for and pray for even those
we don't like, or who are a mess. But it doesn't mean we have to enable those people in those behaviors
that aren't good and are destructive (especially to us)
Sometimes we have to love at a distance...
Agape love should move us to action. But not (again) to action that enables. More importantly not to actions that enmesh us and erodes us. Enabling and co-dependence may be the fake versions of agape love.
On our end... we know God's love when God fills us, and makes us more
We know we are loved by another when they fill us with affirmation and strength and make us more....
I am thankful for the concept and reality of agape
even if I don't totally get it
No comments:
Post a Comment