Loving Too Much

This is a subject which I have pondered extensively, and which at first glance seems to present us with a catch 22. If our purpose in life is to love others, as God has dictated, then how could we possibly love too much? If love is entirely good, which the Word also assures, then how could more love ever be bad? Using the most common tools of rationalization, it is hard to ascertain how "too much love" could be a possibility at all.

There have been times in my life when I thought my heart would burst, when experiencing the purity of God-love for someone. This love is without thought, selfless, deeper than emotion, and painfully real. When it is experienced, time stops as we recognize the limitless power of God's art in an individual's design. It is then that we recognize the infinite nature of God, and feel humbled at our own ignorance. However, there is a very fine line between this real, divine love and its counterfeit! The counterfeit is what we know as obsession. Obsession occurs when instead of simply appreciating divine love for its existence and appearance, we begin to want it for ourselves, more and more of it, and we never want the experience of it to end.

I submit that it is, in fact, possible to love a person too much. Here I must steal a quote from (once again) the incomparable C.S. Lewis, "The Four Loves". In this work, he states...

"It is not possible to love someone too much, it is only possible that we love someone too much in comparison with our love for God."

Any of us who have identified with this question in any regard - with respect to a person, a material possession, a substance, a beloved animal, an occupation, or a child - are immediately silenced by the above statement. It is so obvious, so plain once we see it clearly in writing. Yes, it is all about the priority of our loves and the first command ever given the human race by God himself... "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul". The second is like unto it, "Love your neighbor as yourself". The order of these commands is paramount. FIRST, we love GOD with our whole being. THEN we are able to love others and love ourselves. If the subtle temptation to reverse the order overcomes us and we begin to love the gift more than the giver, we are loving someone or something too much in comparison with our love for God which must precede and supercede all other loves.