There is a peculiar concept going around in an evangelistic leaflet saying that true love means:” I love you. Period.” If we say “I love you because…” that is conditional love. Thus it is absurd to ask “What caused you to love Ms X?”
We make love out of nothing at all, so the Air supply song goes.
(great song, dubious lyrics)
In talking about true love, it is legitimate and necessary to say “I love you because you are who you are.” That is unconditional love because there is a “because” which is not extrinsic. I get jittery when people say “I love X for no reason. Period.” because what in the world stops him from saying “I love Y for no reason. Period” next week or 10 years down the line.
When we try to think of a reason why we love someone we’d probably fail to pinpoint very specific ones. Not because there are no reasons but they are complex sets of reasons, sometimes conflicting ones. I’m sure if you sit and think about why you love X and not Y carefully- you’ll notice some criteria emerging and even some pattern of your previous romantic encounters.
We may choose to love someone who can be intimate with us. For others, the process of salivation starts at the sight of pretty faces. That is a reason in itself.
So with the process of salvation, our decision for Christ is not ex nihilo... The reason is Grace.
We make love out of nothing at all, so the Air supply song goes.
(great song, dubious lyrics)
In talking about true love, it is legitimate and necessary to say “I love you because you are who you are.” That is unconditional love because there is a “because” which is not extrinsic. I get jittery when people say “I love X for no reason. Period.” because what in the world stops him from saying “I love Y for no reason. Period” next week or 10 years down the line.
When we try to think of a reason why we love someone we’d probably fail to pinpoint very specific ones. Not because there are no reasons but they are complex sets of reasons, sometimes conflicting ones. I’m sure if you sit and think about why you love X and not Y carefully- you’ll notice some criteria emerging and even some pattern of your previous romantic encounters.
We may choose to love someone who can be intimate with us. For others, the process of salivation starts at the sight of pretty faces. That is a reason in itself.
So with the process of salvation, our decision for Christ is not ex nihilo... The reason is Grace.
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