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Posted by Sa:ji:sdo:de (Member # 13749) on :
 
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†. Mark 12:30 . .You shall love The Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.

One of the aspects of love is empathy; which can be roughly defined as emotional responses related to things like compassion, pity, and sympathy.

It isn't necessary to like God in order to comply with Mark 12:30, but it is necessary to feel sorry for Him; i.e. feel God's pain whenever He's upset about something; viz: to commiserate with God's sorrow.

I've had people actually tell me that God has no feelings; i.e. He doesn't get emotional-- He's above all that. Well; I have no clue how anyone can read the Bible and come to the conclusion that God has no feelings because even in the Bible's very first book we find God in remorse.

†. Gen 6:5-6 . . Now The Lord observed the extent of the people's wickedness, and he saw that all their thoughts were consistently and totally evil. So The Lord was sorry he had ever made them. It broke his heart.

And although God didn't particularly like the people whom Moses led out of Egypt (Ex 32:9-10) at the same time, He commiserated with their suffering. (Isa 63:9)

For some people; it's asking too much for them to commiserate with God because they were born with defective amygdalae; which are portions of the brain that trigger emotional responses.

The thing is; just as there are people who can recognize humor while at the same time not be tickled by it, so there are people who can recognize suffering while at the same time not be moved by it. Those kinds of empathy-challenged people are often labeled callous, insensitive, and hard hearted. The really bad cases end up labeled monsters because the horrific things they are capable of doing to their fellow man are beyond humane comprehension.

Seeing as how non compliance with Mark 12:30 is worthy of the sum of all fears; then how are empathy-challenged people to have any hope of escaping it?

Well; the answer to that is of course the Xmas story.

†. Luke 2:10-11 . . I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a savior

Webster's defines a savior as one who rescues. Everyone has seen examples of rescuers-- lifeguards, firemen, cops, emergency medical teams, Coast Guard units, snow patrols, and mountain rescue teams. Rescuers typically get people to safety who are facing imminent death and/or grave danger while utterly helpless to do anything about it.

†. 1John 4:10 . . In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His son to be the propitiation for our sins.

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[ February 06, 2018, 04:55 PM: Message edited by: WildB ]
 
Posted by Sa:ji:sdo:de (Member # 13749) on :
 
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It's been my experience that it's very difficult to sympathize with someone while at the same time disliking them immensely.


BTW: Rom 1:28-32 lists malice towards God as a depravity. Whether or not that's really true is of course left up to each individual to decide for themselves.

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Posted by Sa:ji:sdo:de (Member # 13749) on :
 
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Disappointment can be defined as the emotion felt when one's expectations are not met.

By the time most people are adults; they've no doubt undergone at least one disappointing experience wherein they've been let down so it shouldn't be too difficult for them to empathize with God's disappointments.

Frustration can be defined as exasperation; viz: the feeling of impatience or anger caused by another's repeated disagreeable acts.

Again: by the time most people are adults; they've no doubt encountered at least one difficult individual so it shouldn't be too difficult for them to empathize with God's frustrations.

I think God would sincerely appreciate a little sympathy from us for the numerous disappointments and frustrations He endures in his dealings with mankind.

I've heard it said that half of us go to funerals to honor folk we couldn't be bothered with when they were alive, and then lie through out teeth when we tell the family "I'm sorry for your loss."

Well; I suspect that most people don't give God even that degree of pity let alone honest and heart-felt pity. Humanity, on the whole, is indifferent to God's feelings; far from tender and sensitive, humanity's attitude towards God is thoughtless and cruel.

"When others are happy, be happy with them. If they are sad, share their sorrow." (Rom 12:15)

I cannot think of even one valid reason why God should not be included among others right along with everyone else in that category.

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Posted by Sa:ji:sdo:de (Member # 13749) on :
 
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†. Hos 1:2a & 3 . .When Yhvh began to speak through Hosea, Yhvh said to him: Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife, and children of unfaithfulness. So he married Gomer; daughter of Diblaim.

God had a special purpose in mind when He ordered Hosea to take an immoral woman to be his spouse.

†. Hos 1:2b . . Because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from Yhvh.

God was on the brink of dispatching Hosea to lay a guilt trip on His people for their gross negligence to honor the covenant they made with Him as per Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy-- a covenant which God apparently regards equivalent to a wedding vow.

But God didn't want Hosea's preaching to be more dispassionate barking and threatening like Jonah's because in this case, the element of jealousy was a factor. (Ex 20:5)

However, in order for Hosea to convey God's disappointment with His people effectively, it was necessary to put Hosea through some of God's troubles so he could not only convey God's disappointment, but also project it. Like it's said: one cannot truly know what somebody is going through till they themselves go through it.

If some of you guys out there have never experienced the pain of a two-timing lover or a cheating spouse, then you cannot even begin to appreciate how God feels when His people are unfaithful. It hurts, and if you don't think so; just ask somebody who's been there; or better yet, somebody there now.

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