Post by Admin on Jun 21, 2018 6:17:17 GMT
In an effort to use human words and understanding to describe God’s love, in scripture He has been compared to a mother, a father, a friend willing to give his life, and a bridegroom. We opened tonight’s discussion by talking about the many aspects of God’s love, and more specifically how we would describe the love we feel from God. One interesting perspective from this discussion came from reversing the idea: that the love we ascribe to mothers and fathers and spouses and friends is a morsel of God’s love manifesting in His creation.
We read the Psalm and noted the structure: verses 1-4 are about the cruelty and sin that shows up even when we think people love us, verses 5-9 are about the unfailing love of God which never betrays us, and the final verses 10-12 wrap up with a plea for us to remain under control of God’s love. We talked about the self-love and self-defense that can overwhelm our love of others, leading us to say or do hurtful things. Of course, David had plenty of opportunity to experience cruelty and even life-threatening actions from people close to him, like Saul. He also acted from his own supreme self-interest in the murder of Bathsheba’s husband, which was also an act of violence against the women he claimed to love. We spent much time considering how the supremacy of “me” can corrode our expression of love to others.
Verse 6 uses the term “preserves” to talk about how God deals with us, and that opened a discussion about the nature of preservation activities, such as preserving a friendship (which can entail forgiveness, sacrifice, giving) or preserving a historic artifact (which requires special handling, storage, and treatment). It was interesting to think about God’s love in this way, forgiving and sacrificing, providing special care and treatment, often without our even being cognizant of it. Don brought up the story of Jesus asking Peter three times, “Do you love me,” followed by the direction to “feed Jesus’ sheep,” in other words that Peter’s love had to manifest itself, poured out freely to others, as God’s love does to us all. The next step is for us to receive God’s love and channel it into service, so that we also manifest God’s love freely to others. We called it the new Peter Principle!
We agreed that Psalm 36 contained many phrases that have found their way into hymns and songs. For reading tonight, Michelle picked a song that was from the Celebration Hymnal.
Think About His Love
By Walt Harrah
Think about his love
Think about his goodness
Think about his grace that's brought us through
For as high as the heavens above
So great is the measure of our Father's love
Great is the measure of our Father's love
How could I forget his love?
How could I forget his mercy?
He satisfies. He satisfies. He satisfies my desire.
Even when I've strayed away
His love has sought me out and found me
Those times I've been
Away from him
His loving arms have held me fast
We read the Psalm and noted the structure: verses 1-4 are about the cruelty and sin that shows up even when we think people love us, verses 5-9 are about the unfailing love of God which never betrays us, and the final verses 10-12 wrap up with a plea for us to remain under control of God’s love. We talked about the self-love and self-defense that can overwhelm our love of others, leading us to say or do hurtful things. Of course, David had plenty of opportunity to experience cruelty and even life-threatening actions from people close to him, like Saul. He also acted from his own supreme self-interest in the murder of Bathsheba’s husband, which was also an act of violence against the women he claimed to love. We spent much time considering how the supremacy of “me” can corrode our expression of love to others.
Verse 6 uses the term “preserves” to talk about how God deals with us, and that opened a discussion about the nature of preservation activities, such as preserving a friendship (which can entail forgiveness, sacrifice, giving) or preserving a historic artifact (which requires special handling, storage, and treatment). It was interesting to think about God’s love in this way, forgiving and sacrificing, providing special care and treatment, often without our even being cognizant of it. Don brought up the story of Jesus asking Peter three times, “Do you love me,” followed by the direction to “feed Jesus’ sheep,” in other words that Peter’s love had to manifest itself, poured out freely to others, as God’s love does to us all. The next step is for us to receive God’s love and channel it into service, so that we also manifest God’s love freely to others. We called it the new Peter Principle!
We agreed that Psalm 36 contained many phrases that have found their way into hymns and songs. For reading tonight, Michelle picked a song that was from the Celebration Hymnal.
Think About His Love
By Walt Harrah
Think about his love
Think about his goodness
Think about his grace that's brought us through
For as high as the heavens above
So great is the measure of our Father's love
Great is the measure of our Father's love
How could I forget his love?
How could I forget his mercy?
He satisfies. He satisfies. He satisfies my desire.
Even when I've strayed away
His love has sought me out and found me
Those times I've been
Away from him
His loving arms have held me fast