This holiday season, I have been reflecting on love and on giving to others. This lead me to remember something I heard a pastor briefly speak about a few years ago. He termed it dog and cat theology.
A dog says:
You feed me,
You give me water,
You provide my shelter…
You must be God!
On the other hand, a cat says:
You feed me,
You give me water,
You provide my shelter…
I must be God!
Hearing that made me think about how every dog I have owned has taught me about God and His unconditional love for me. My dogs have also taught me how to ignore myself and to give to others. Not material giving, but spiritual and emotional giving. You see, I am a selfish, love-absorbing person. I would much sooner receive the love of a person than return it. Don’t misunderstand: I love my wife and my children dearly. But if I’m honest with myself, I have to admit there are times when loving them is hard work. I don’t want to express my love to them when they say or do something that hurts me and I certainly don’t want to give anything to them when they point out one of my many faults.
We have been blessed to have a little white fluffy dog named Oscar in our lives. God has used Oscar to teach me about unconditional love. I’ve spoken harshly to Oscar and hurt his feelings, causing him to slink away only to come back in a couple of minutes with ears flattened to the back of his head and tail lowered to where it almost drags the floor. His sad brown eyes carry the most pitiful expression I’ve ever seen. He slowly crawls into my lap and presses himself against me, letting me know that although I’ve treated him harshly and hurt his feelings, he still loves me unconditionally. In this sense he gives of himself to me…unconditionally.
This is the same thing Christ does for me. When I blow it, when I deliberately decide to sin and do wrong things, He forgives me. Don’t get me wrong: Christ is not a dog and does not crawl into my lap. But the unconditional love displayed by Oscar is exactly the type of love Christ has for me. 1 John 1:9 tells me that if I confess my sin to Him (Christ), He is faithful and just to forgive me and cleanse me from all my unrighteousness. Notice the word all? It really means all: It is inclusive of everything.
When I compare Christ’s love and His forgiveness for things I’ve done with my response when someone has hurt me or pointed out my faults, I find I have to challenge myself to follow the advice Paul’s advice to the church at Ephesus. In Ephesians 4:32, Paul says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you” (ESV). I look at Oscar, at how he shows me God’s unconditional love, and I realize that Paul was correct. Just as the Lord loves me unconditionally and has forgiven all my wrong, I can also love others and give my love to them unconditionally.