I was browsing through a few old journal entries and came across this quote from James Allen. I probably picked it up from a book of his collected works called "Mind Is the Master." The quote I'd scribbled in my journal is: "If you love people, and speak of them with praise, until they in some way thwart you, or do something of which you disapprove, and then you dislike them and speak of them with dispraise, you are not governed by the love which is of God."
Because you see the love which is of God is unconditional. It doesn't appear when we behave and disappear when we misbehave. I don't remember watching this, but I've read that in 1983 the magician, David Copperfield, made the Statue of Liberty disappear on live television. He raised a giant curtain on Liberty Island; then lowered it again a few seconds later to show that the space where the statue stood was empty. A nearby helicopter crew filmed an aerial view of the illusion, and the statue appeared to vanish.
God's love never vanishes. It is always constant, always streaming toward humanity at super-spiritual speed.
Allen believed if the love we extend to others fluctuates on the basis of their behavior, it isn't the kind of love that comes from God. It is the kind of love which comes from people, and let's be honest here. We normally extend our love to folks who either agree with us or please us in some way. People mete out love this way, which is why the Scriptures warn, "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man" (Psalm 118:8).
If you're feeling betrayed or misunderstood, chin up! God's love is nearing your heart even you as you read!
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