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HUMAN LOVE:
“human love continues to desire even when it seems to be serving” (34)
“The basis of all human love is the dark, turbid urges and desires of the human mind… it is the deep night that hovers over the sources of all human action, even over all noble and devout impulses” (31)
“Human love is by its very nature desire… So long as it can satisfy this desire in some way, it will not give it up, even for the sake of truth, even for the sake of genuine love… Human love cannot tolerate the dissolution of a fellowship that has become false… Where Christ bids me to maintain fellowship for the sake of love, I will maintain it. Where his truth enjoins me to dissolve a fellowship for love's sake, there I will dissolve it, despite all the protests of my human love.” (34-35)
“Thus there is such a thing as human absorption” (33)
“The human soul seeks a complete fusion of I and Thou” (33)
“Human love loves others not as a free person but as one whom it binds to itself” (34)
How do we recognize if we’ve undertaken a ministry out of human love? Ask:
What are my true motives in being part of this community?
What are my needs that I am trying to have met by this community?
How much of my involvement in this community is driven by self-interest?
How did I enter into this system?
SPIRITUAL LOVE:
Mark 10:45 “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many”
John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”
“where human love can no longer expect its desire to be fulfilled, there it stops… in the face of an enemy” (34)
“human love becomes personal hatred” (35)
“The existence of any Christian life together depends on whether it succeeds at the right time in bringing out… spiritual community. The life or death of a Christian community is determined by whether it achieves sober wisdom on this point as soon as possible.” (37)
“spiritual love must release the other person from… all too personal, direct influence, impure interference… every attempt of mine to regulate, coerce, and dominate… The other person needs to retain his independence of me… I must leave him his freedom to be Christ’s… it respects the line that has been drawn between him and me… spiritual love creates freedom” (36-37)
“The man who fashions a visionary ideal of community demands that it be realized by God, by others, and by himself. He enters the community of Christians with his demands, sets up his own law, and judges the brethren and God himself accordingly… So he becomes, first an accuser of his brethren, then an accuser of God, and finally the despairing accuser of himself.” (27-28)
How can I move away from human love towards spiritual love?
Detach my ego from the success or the failure of this church / ministry.
Release them from soft shaming, guilt feelings, and silent expectations.
Be gentle on myself (and thus others).
Decouple from them and break enmeshment & codependency.
Liberate them (from me) to be free.
Music credits: Aleksey Chistilin
