Perfectly Ourselves

“The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image. If in loving them we do not love what they are, but only their potential likeness to ourselves, then we do not love them: we only love the reflection of ourselves we find in them” — Thomas Merton

Elucidation

Sometimes a single sentence like the one from yesterday’s post says it all. Other times a single sentence can mean something different to each reader. In this case the sentence needs further explanation.

Here’s the sentence: What we give to the Lord opens the way for us to receive from Him.

Some might think this means the more I do for God the more He’ll do for me. I strongly disagree with that. God doesn’t have favorites and He can’t be manipulated, not to mention the question of motive. You could also read this from a monetary viewpoint and while scripture is clear that you can’t out give God, manipulation and motivation can be heavily at play here too.

What I’m trying to say in this statement is that we get to be part of the process together with God and to a large degree allow Him to mold us, make us, change us, heal us, grow us and so much more. You see, as we give more and more of our lives to Him we become more and more able to receive.