Somewhere back in middle school math, or maybe even before, I learned how to add negative numbers together. And one of the first principles you learn when adding negative numbers together is that a negative plus a negative always results in a more negative number. -6 + -6 = -12.
God's math, however, does not follow this principle. In fact, God's math seems to work in the opposite direction....at least when it comes to matters of the heart. Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment is to love God then the second is to love others. In the arithmetic of love, that's "give away love" plus "give away love" which seems pretty clearly to be two negative numbers to me. But somehow, this equation does not equal an empty heart. No, quite the opposite, in fact. If we give our love to God and give our love to others, somehow we end up with full hearts. Somehow.
So often, I find myself searching to find love, to add a positive into this equation that doesn't make any sense. But the more love I seek out, the more I seem to need to find. Here, apparently positives yield a deficit. How can this be?
And this isn't the only math that doesn't add up the same in the world's math and God's math. Think about it. I have to be generous to receive much. I have to lose my life to find it. Die to myself to truly live. Be last to be first. None of this makes an iota of sense when using the world's math, but somehow God's math makes the worthless have worth. The slaves to sin completely free. The dead fully alive.
My brain desperately wants to understand this backwards math. I want to consume the whole textbook and ace the test, put it in its tidy little box, and move on to the next subject. But God's math when it comes to love is no more neat and tidy than the idea of His grace. There's no single word, phrase, acronym, or alliteration to sum it all up.
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