Do You Love Me?

Baxter, my loveable and noisy West Highland Terrier, teaches me about the love of God.

I’m resting on the couch, while living in Boise, when Baxter, my rambunctious and loving Westie, looks up at me for reassurance. He’d been barking again. He loves to run out the doggie door and yelp at any noise he hears or at any cat, bird, or squirrel he sees. This upsets my neighbor; a guy who I’m guessing suffers from some kind of PTSD. I’m trying to train my noisy pet so the neighbor won’t get mad. Every time Baxter runs out and barks, I open the door; point the pink spray bottle of water and command, “NO BARKS, BAXTER!”  As he jumps onto the couch now and presses close to me, his look tells me, “I am a good dog, aren’t I. You love me, don’t you?”

I put my arms around him and hug him. “I love you very much Baxter!” At that moment, a quiet voice in my mind speaks these words:

 “If you can love your dog unconditionally, and you are a human, how much do you think God can love all his children?”  

I’ve struggled  to trust in God’s love. I grew up in churches whose message was a limited love of God. “If you believe in Jesus, then you are safe from Hell. Otherwise, you are condemned.” Eventually I worked through a faith crisis and came to see that I had been misinformed. I have a book coming out in February 2024 that tells the story of my spiritual journey. It is titled “Recognizing the Wolves” and will be published by Barclay Press. 

Yes, God loves everyone. His love is unconditional.  His love is all inclusive.

Reviews

[Chris Shaw]

I too struggled with the church and left. There wasn’t alot of unconditional love or any love there, far from it. If more people were like Jesus Christ, the churches would be full. I enjoyed this spiritual journey Shelley. Good luck with your forthcoming book dear friend.

Chris

[FGFRANKLIN]

The Bible says God hated Esau. Romans 9:13 David said he hated everyone who hated God. Psalm 139:22 The Bible says God "hates" wickedness: in both Psalm 45:7 and Hebrews 1:9 and that He does not listen to sinners in John 9:31 so the belief or opinion that God loves "everyone" and that His love is "unconditional" is not Biblical at all. God does not treat everyone equally either because (according to scripture) he hated Esau before Esau was even born. Romans 9:11 Can mankind judge God? He'd certainly like to, I'm sure. But Isaiah warned about that sort of thinking when he wrote, "You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, “You did not make me"? Can the pot say to the potter, “You know nothing"?" Isaiah 29:16 God is God and we are not in charge. "God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few." Ecclesiastes 5:2 The latter advice from Solomon seems very wise, indeed. Proverb 8:36 says all that hate wisdom love death. And proverbs 18:21 says that the tongue holds the power of life and death and those who love that power eat of its fruit. Galatians 6:9 says, "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap." If we sow discord we reap contention. If we sow lies we reap treachery and deceit. But many people like to deceive themselves as much as others because it brings them comfort. A man may tell his wife he likes her new hairdo or her new dress because he knows that's what she wants to hear, even if he doesn't like it. Likewise, we may be tempted to deceive ourselves about the nature of God, presuming God to be like us. Nothing could be further from the truth. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the LORD." Isaiah 55:8

[Shelley Warner]

The Bible makes some contradictory statements, but I'll not debate the issue. Thank you for reading.

[FGFRANKLIN]

All things are at God's discretion and we don't have a choice or a voice in the matter. That rubs against human pride because we like to believe we are the captains of our own destiny. We are not.