ne of the results of our sincere desire to become one with God is that the gift of God's love is bestowed upon us. Along with the gift comes our awareness that God wants us, as humans, to focus on love. Knowing how God loves is one prerequisite to becoming a loving person, since there are many misconceptions about love. Many of us on the earth plane who believe we are loving are persuaded that the first emphasis should be on acquiring spirituality. However, this is not necessary; since, if we love as God loves, spirituality of the highest order is ours and in action. Love is the handmaiden of a spirituality that always continues to move us toward God. God's love is understanding, forgiving, caring (a realistic love) and consistent with the four commandments that God would have us adopt. When we adopt them, we will know that our actions are loving. Our love, like God's, becomes universal, caring, without judgment and is extended to all of us regardless of our spiritual state. God's love is passive until we choose to actively seek God's assistance in becoming a loving individual.
Our need for individuality is respected by God and is additional evidence of God's love for us. God understands our need, for God is the epitome of individualism at its best. Our individuality can be a frightening experience when pitted against negativity, such as hate, anger, or the jealousy of an unloving person, who has overindulged in The Illusion of Self. But, armed with God's love, we can manage the situation with confidence and appropriateness.
In Western religious teaching we are admonished to turn the other cheek if one is slapped, and many Eastern teachings also advise to give away the rest of our clothing if someone asks us for our coat. Acts such as these, we are told, epitomize our love for another individual. We are apt to take on a burden of guilt because of the way these admonishments are taught. It is a loving act to give our coat to a freezing individual, and it is a wise choice to give it up if threatened with violence that we cannot prevent. However, to give up our cheek or property because of a surrender to guilt and rationalizing that this is an act of love is to perpetuate a negative force. It is a misconception about what constitutes love and loving acts. We will know that our action is loving and appropriate to the situation when we love as God. Love is our freedom and our limitation. It is how God loves, and it is the purest that is possible. God's love is always there and becomes active when we seek God. God does not force God's love upon us, but gives it freely when we want and accept it. The love for us is there, passive, even if we with our speech, thoughts and actions are in an anti-God negative state. Since we do not want God at such a time, God respects our choice and lets it be God's limitation. God waits patiently until we make better choices for ourselves that include God. When we do, God lets love be God's freedom to help us. We activate God's love.
When we let our love be our freedom and our limitation, we love as God. We have the power to disengage from negative situations and still be understanding, caring and forgiving. We have the power and freedom to pursue any desire until, because of our love, we accept any limitation that may materialize.
Limitations to our freedom are not always a result of negativity. For example, two of us who are loving may have a sincere difference of opinion about an issue. If the love principle - let love be your freedom and limitation - is employed, negotiation and compromise will resolve the issue to our satisfaction.
Our sexual activity is a physical experience, and for those of us who are fortunate, a delightful one. It takes on a new dimension when we have God's love and incorporate it into our lovemaking. The experience becomes spiritual instead of purely physical. Contrary to many of the teachings to which we have been exposed, our sexuality is entwined with our spirituality. Many of us are unable to enjoy sex because we suppress or deny our God-given sexuality. When we love God, we will accept that this is one of God's blessings, to be enjoyed and used responsibly. To dedicate our sexual activity to God is to acknowledge to God that our sexuality is entwined with our spirituality and is a blessing.
Many of us erroneously believe that love is to be given only to other individuals and not to ourselves. This is not so, and it is impossible to love another unless we have a foundation of realistic self-love. What we usually extend to others is a romanticized or idealized love that is difficult, if not impossible, for anyone to achieve. We create an emotional high for ourselves in many romantic situations and mistakenly believe it is love. Instead of an individual, we relate primarily to an intense, enjoyable, short-lived emotion we think is love. Actually, it is a negatively energized emotion and a product of our Illusion of Self. Eventually, a realistic appraisal about the other individual penetrates the fog of our emotion about love. We become disillusioned, perhaps depressed, sometimes ill and find it difficult to absolve the former subject of our love.
When we operate in our Illusion of Self, it is easy to be subjective about ourselves and objective about other individuals. (The reason I am depressed is because she did not reveal what she really is before I fell in love.) By meditating objectively, we can become more subjective (i.e., finding less fault) about other individuals and more objective about ourselves. With the meditation process we develop a sense of humor about some of our behavior, and we are able to forgive ourselves for our mistakes. God does, why don't we? We will give ourselves the same realistic love (caring) that we develop for the rest of humankind. When we reflect about our negative human behavior or on some of the choices made and the results achieved, it is easy to conclude that some degree of insanity exists. To want the love of God within us and to reflect this love with our behavior and choices is to be in a state of sanity. Letting love be our freedom and our limitation is to know that we love as God. It is wisdom in action, for it is knowing that our love is the glue that holds together everything in God's creation.
