"God is Love."
~1 John 4:8~
God is love should transcend every winnow and crack of our understanding of who He is, what He does, why He did what He did, and basically every fundamental interpretation of the bible. That knowledge should permeate through and through- not just because "only then would we do God justice", neither is it "by doing so, we would represent God rightly." Those are self-righteous thoughts to rub our ego- what's really happening at the core our view is that, God needs our justification, and some even subconsciously buy in to the idea that we are doing God a favor. That is warped, very warped. I want to suggest that it has nothing to do with service, but has everything to do with relationship. It is much more for us than it is for Him. By having the right understanding and convictions about God is essential to us preserving and growing our relationship with Him.
Only then, would we be able to say that "we don't know why, but we know God", and only then would we be able to hang on in times of struggles and seeming desperation. When deep misfortune finds its way to us, when the hopeful future looks incredibly bleak, when every step we take feels like a mistake, when it feels like we are fighting a losing battle, when our world is crushed and our lives are turned upside down... A deep conviction in God is Love allows us to submit and trust, and to muster the courage and faith to linger a still small voice that speaks "even now, I believe that God is still in control, and that God is still good."
Reading the bible without a relationship with God renders us handicap in our walk with Him
Many place their trust in Scripture, and rightly so. But denominations, the different gospels, etc. have been an unsettled debate within the Christian communities for a very extended period of time. Looking at the subtitle, some might suspect that I'm advocating a Christian walk apart from the Scripture. Far from that! What I'm trying to say is this- Scripture is a part of our walk with God, but it's not the entire thing. You can't walk apart from the Scripture, but you can only allow it to be a part of the entire package. The entire part is this: life in the Spirit. Someone ever told me this: "Scripture without Spirit we dry up; Spirit without Scripture we blow up; Scripture and Spirit we grow up." Debates don't come to conclusion because Scripture is treated apart from the Spirit, with the typical example being made of the Pharisee. John 5:39-42 speaks of this, and even in that talks about the "love of God" (v.42).
Read Why did Jesus Allow A Thief to Be His Treasurer for an illustration to how knowing God's heart can affect our interpretation of the bible.
Another illustration is in the Nativity story covered in the Gospel of Luke, specifically Luke 1:18 and Luke 1:34. It always baffles me how Zacharias was deemed to have not believed while Mary was offered an explanation, when essentially both of them asked the same question "how can this be?"
Knowing God allows me to make this assumption: Zacharias becoming mute was not necessarily a punishment, while Mary being given an explanation was not necessarily a kinder treatment. Matthew 25:15 calls for us to not compare and see one as being better than the other, but to look at what we are given and steward it well. The rest can become speculations, but this fundamental understanding should remain.
From a position of love springs forth a desire to love
If we come out from the place being known as the guy who brings miracles, the guy who speaks good wisdom, or the guy who diligently helped out, all these are good; but I would be most glad if I come away being known as the guy who loved and bothered to make friends with us. (Matthew 7:22-23)
What do we want to be known for?
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