I was trying to orient my thoughts to Christ this morning, and thinking of the love He has for us, the Father, and the Holy Spirit and had some interesting thoughts I could not wait to put down here.
Thinking of love, and the Holy Spirit immediately comes to mind with the filioque. I admittedly do not know a ton on why this was a controversy in the church. So I got thinking about the idea that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the love between the Father and the Son. This is something I have thought about here and there and finally think parts of it fell into place this morning.
The Father and the Son are eternal, and the love between the Father and the Son is eternal, so the Holy Spirit is eternal as well.
The Holy Spirit is the physical manifestation of the love between the Father and the Son. Literally the power of their love manifests as an eternal personage of God.
At times I had trouble visualizing or fully making sense of the filioque, but this analogy/comparison helped me. When you love someone, it physically changes things about you. Your heart might beat faster in their presence, you might feel peace and comfort in their embrace, and you do things out of love that change you. If our human love can manifest as such, how much more incomprehensible then can God’s love manifest.
Thinking on how the Holy Spirit shaped the face the of the earth, that is a tangible change flowering forth from love. How the Holy Spirit changes our hearts, minds, and our very souls. These are tangible changes from love. The Holy Spirit ties us into the eternal loop of love from God. We can only fully participate in this love by the Holy Spirit.
How awesome that God includes us in His love, and through the Holy Spirit (the force that connects and unites the faithful), can we truly commune with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Those living and those in glory with the Father. Let’s share in God’s love, giving and receiving alike. All to glorify Him!
