Is That What The Commandments Really Are?
Earlier this month, I was reading through the scriptures when I came across a verse that we all know.
"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matt 5:38)
The Lord, in this verse, is inviting us to covenant with Him, to be made whole through Him, and to be like Him. It is a beautiful invitation given to us in the form of a commandment. I was thinking about the beauty of that invitation when it hit me.
Are all commandments invitations to be like God?
In other words, is God simply telling us who He is and inviting us to adopt the applications that will help us become like Him? It hit my heart as my perspective on commandments shifted.
If commandments are God's way of describing Himself to us, they are less about a mean God telling us what to do and more about a loving God inviting us to walk in His footsteps to become like Him.
All too often we imagine a God who sits upon His throne, tells us what to do, and then punishes us if we disobey. This paints the picture of a power hungry, borderline abusive Father. It leads us to resent God because we believe that he is limiting our options and micro-managing our lives. No wonder many people don't resonate with the God of Christianity.
The truth is something much different.
God, our creator and Heavenly Father loves us with an infinite love we can't quite comprehend. He has dedicated His existence to helping us receive a fullness of joy, peace, and power. Receiving these gifts is only made possible through two gifts that came at a high cost.
"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matt 5:38)
The Lord, in this verse, is inviting us to covenant with Him, to be made whole through Him, and to be like Him. It is a beautiful invitation given to us in the form of a commandment. I was thinking about the beauty of that invitation when it hit me.
Are all commandments invitations to be like God?
In other words, is God simply telling us who He is and inviting us to adopt the applications that will help us become like Him? It hit my heart as my perspective on commandments shifted.
If commandments are God's way of describing Himself to us, they are less about a mean God telling us what to do and more about a loving God inviting us to walk in His footsteps to become like Him.
All too often we imagine a God who sits upon His throne, tells us what to do, and then punishes us if we disobey. This paints the picture of a power hungry, borderline abusive Father. It leads us to resent God because we believe that he is limiting our options and micro-managing our lives. No wonder many people don't resonate with the God of Christianity.
The truth is something much different.
God, our creator and Heavenly Father loves us with an infinite love we can't quite comprehend. He has dedicated His existence to helping us receive a fullness of joy, peace, and power. Receiving these gifts is only made possible through two gifts that came at a high cost.
- Agency - The ability to think and act according to your own desires and will. To choose our own way. This principle was so disputed in the pre-existence, that 1/3 of God's children fought against this idea and opted out of an earthly experience.
- Grace through the Atonement of Jesus Christ - Christ extends grace and power to cleanse us from sin, educate our desires, and transform our hearts. His grace and power will even raise us from the dead at the designated time. He paid for this with his own life plus a degree of suffering we can't yet understand.
Through the goodness of God and the grace of Christ, we are invited to live a life that will lead to a fullness of joy, peace and power. To access the joy, peace, and power that God experiences, we are invited to develop his attributes and characteristics. Choosing to develop attributes of the divine brings spiritual and temporal well being. Choosing a different path does not reap the same rewards.
We are not punished by God when we use our agency to choose against His path, but rather, we choose to receive rewards from a source that is much less divine.
The truth of the matter is this:
God loves us with infinite and matchless love. He has given us the gifts of agency and Grace which set us free to access unlimited joy, peace and power. He, through His commandments, tells us how we might access his attributes, and the fullness of joy, peace and power that accompany them.
So the next time you read a commandment, whether it be, "be ye therefore perfect", "fear not", or "thou shalt not covet" consider rewording it to say, "I God, am perfect", "I God, do not fear" and "I God, do not covet".
He invites us to be like Him. He has shown us how to do it. He has given us the priceless gifts of agency and grace to empower us to follow Him. The rest is up to us. Will we follow His commandments and acquire divine attributes, or will we choose a different way?
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