Love is considered one of the greatest paradoxes in Christian life. Is it for good or for ill
we offer our hearts to one another? As C.S. Lewis notes in The Four Loves, Saint John teaches
that “God is love,” thus to love is to experience a more intimate relationship with God. However,
passion left unchecked festers like a sore. “We may give our human loves the unconditional
allegiance which we owe only to God. Then they become gods: then they become demons. Then
they will destroy us, and also destroy themselves.” Lewis notes that a balance must be observed.
Visiting affection on others offers a glimpse of “Agape,” God’s eternal compassion, but this
affection cannot be made to drive God from our hearts.
God intended man to use …show more content…
Lewis underlines this assertion when he
says, “The rivalry between all natural loves and the love of God is something a Christian dare not
forget. God is the great Rival, the ultimate object of human jealousy.” Lewis concludes that
through love, man comes to understand God and to love Him unconditionally in return.
The allusion to the First Commandment is recognizable in Lewis’s writing. The
statement, “then they become gods,” contrasts the First Commandment. This Commandment, as
stated in Exodus, reads, “I am the Lord thy God…Thou shalt have no other gods before me”
(KJV, Exodus 20:2-3). Pursuing mortal passions before God violates this sacred law. If God is
truly love as Saint John says, then it is right and godly to love. It is neither right nor godly to
adore love itself. Think of love as a tool. The purpose of a tool is to create something greater
than itself. No one values the hammer more than the sword it helps forge. To covet the tool is
pointless; it achieves nothing. Falling prey to passions fulfills no understanding of God; rather, it
acts only as a distraction from God. The cross is a symbol of God’s mercy and sacrifice. We …show more content…
In this same way, we honor the Lord through love.
According to Lewis, love aligned against God is not love. “For natural loves that are
allowed to become gods do not remain loves. They are still called so, but can become in fact
complicated forms of hatred.” Lewis further espouses that, “[love] begins to be a demon the
moment he begins to be a god.” When love obstructs our path to God, it becomes ungodly. In
blocking our relationship with God, this love no longer models His goodness, thus it can no
longer be called love. It is, as Lewis notes, a “demon.” As a demon, this perverted compassion is
hateful in His sight. In idolizing love and leaving our passions unchecked, we choose not to
imitate God’s pure and perfect love, and so this love assumes the guise of hate.
C.S. Lewis provides a valuable perspective into the workings of love itself. With an
emphasis on Christian love, Lewis explains the true function of love: to understand God through
an imitation of His own love. “The human loves can be glorious images of Divine love. No less
than that: but also no more.” We must be wise to the blindness of our passions, and we must take
care never to usurp God from the throne of our
we offer our hearts to one another? As C.S. Lewis notes in The Four Loves, Saint John teaches
that “God is love,” thus to love is to experience a more intimate relationship with God. However,
passion left unchecked festers like a sore. “We may give our human loves the unconditional
allegiance which we owe only to God. Then they become gods: then they become demons. Then
they will destroy us, and also destroy themselves.” Lewis notes that a balance must be observed.
Visiting affection on others offers a glimpse of “Agape,” God’s eternal compassion, but this
affection cannot be made to drive God from our hearts.
God intended man to use …show more content…
Lewis underlines this assertion when he
says, “The rivalry between all natural loves and the love of God is something a Christian dare not
forget. God is the great Rival, the ultimate object of human jealousy.” Lewis concludes that
through love, man comes to understand God and to love Him unconditionally in return.
The allusion to the First Commandment is recognizable in Lewis’s writing. The
statement, “then they become gods,” contrasts the First Commandment. This Commandment, as
stated in Exodus, reads, “I am the Lord thy God…Thou shalt have no other gods before me”
(KJV, Exodus 20:2-3). Pursuing mortal passions before God violates this sacred law. If God is
truly love as Saint John says, then it is right and godly to love. It is neither right nor godly to
adore love itself. Think of love as a tool. The purpose of a tool is to create something greater
than itself. No one values the hammer more than the sword it helps forge. To covet the tool is
pointless; it achieves nothing. Falling prey to passions fulfills no understanding of God; rather, it
acts only as a distraction from God. The cross is a symbol of God’s mercy and sacrifice. We …show more content…
In this same way, we honor the Lord through love.
According to Lewis, love aligned against God is not love. “For natural loves that are
allowed to become gods do not remain loves. They are still called so, but can become in fact
complicated forms of hatred.” Lewis further espouses that, “[love] begins to be a demon the
moment he begins to be a god.” When love obstructs our path to God, it becomes ungodly. In
blocking our relationship with God, this love no longer models His goodness, thus it can no
longer be called love. It is, as Lewis notes, a “demon.” As a demon, this perverted compassion is
hateful in His sight. In idolizing love and leaving our passions unchecked, we choose not to
imitate God’s pure and perfect love, and so this love assumes the guise of hate.
C.S. Lewis provides a valuable perspective into the workings of love itself. With an
emphasis on Christian love, Lewis explains the true function of love: to understand God through
an imitation of His own love. “The human loves can be glorious images of Divine love. No less
than that: but also no more.” We must be wise to the blindness of our passions, and we must take
care never to usurp God from the throne of our