“Love or Like?”

By Bill Brandstatter      The two words above are confusing to many people. I can love someone but not like certain practices. I can love someone because of the soul which God put in them; but, I may not like their life style or habits. God is a God of love; (1 John 4:18) but God doesn’t like all of man’s behaviors and practices.     He loved Adam and Eve. They were God’s first human creations. God loved them so much that He gave them a paradise home. Because He loved them, He gave them some commandments to guide them in their paradise. They chose not to follow those commands. As a result, they were expelled from the Garden of Eden and death came on the human race. He didn’t like what they did, but He loved them.     He loved people in Noah’s day. People became more and more wicked. (Gen. 6:5) God was sorry He made man and was grieved in His heart. (Gen. 6:6) God still loved mankind, but was sorrowful about the behavior and lifestyle of those created after His image. So, God caused a great flood to come upon the earth. Everything was destroyed. The only survivors were Noah, his wife, his sons & their wives and the animals in the ark. God didn’t do this because He hated man. He did it because He didn’t like what they were doing, and they were creating problems for themselves.     He loves people today. He wants all men to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth. (1 Tim. 2:4) God is in the soul business. Man is in the flesh business. Man wants to justify self. God wants to save man from sin. So, when man reads the Bible, he thinks in different terms than God does. (Isa. 55:8, 9) Sometimes that which God condemns, man approves. That which man approves God often condemns. (Isa. 10:30)     What man loves, God does not always like or approve. (Isa. 5:20) Man loves pleasure and sinful activity. God loves man, but hates every evil way. God does not hate the person, but He often does hate their behavior. Jesus said the gate many would go through is broad and wide and the gate to heaven is narrow and difficult. (Matt. 7:13, 14) Man must make choices. If we know the word of God, we can better make the choices God wants us to make. He gave us the Bible because He loves us, yet He doesn’t always like the things that we do. He demonstrates His love for us “in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8)

- Bill Brandstatter preaches for the Marion Church of Christ in Marion, IL. He may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://marionchurchofchrist.com/