The Lodestar

Apostle John reminds those who have accepted God’s love through Christ that they have a mystical relationship with the living God. Mysticism is the supernatural knowledge and experience of the divine that transcends human capabilities. The core of Christian spirituality is mystical.

All religions claim to have a mystical aspect. However, most reserve it for those who have attained some level of spirituality; it is not for ordinary folks. So, we have the ascetics to attempt or claim to have achieved that level of spirituality. We adore them for what they could do that most of us could not. There are meditational techniques to accomplish this stage of spirituality. Transcendental meditation techniques claim to elevate practitioners to a mystical level.

Even in some sections of Christianity, mystical experience is reserved for a few who would retreat to monasteries, isolate themselves from the world, or even go to the cloisters to have supernatural knowledge of the divine.

However, the Bible has a different take. It invites everyone, not spiritual elites, to experience God. This mystical experience is based on God's very nature—God is love. Love is not an attribute of God, but it is the essence of God. Love defines God.

So, a union with God, who is love, follows a straightforward formula: experience God’s love and practice that love with those who have a similar experience. Loving God and loving others with that same love is to live in union with God.

The Bible calls us to imitate God because we are his beloved children. Children grow up imitating parents, so God’s children grow, emulating God’s love as Paul writes: “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Eph 5:1—2).

Start spreading the fragrance of God’s love today by loving even those whom the world considers unworthy of your love. But from God’s perspective, no one is undeserving of love. The more we love, the closer we draw to God.

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