Love Is the SolutionНамуна

What happens if we don’t obey God’s commandments?

Jesus said loving God, others, and yourself was the greatest commandment. Let’s say we disobey this “greatest” commandment. This is the starting point of sin, disease, and decay and leads to death. If your parents disobeyed this command and didn’t love one another, and you, as a baby, with selfless agape love, this will affect your mental state for the rest of your life. Or at least until you forgive them and receive God’s love. Being deprived of love and nurturing from an early age would bring about mental states or emotions like fear, stress, depression, anxiety, unforgiveness, anger, resentment, envy, and hostility as you grow up.

As you grow into an adult, those feelings negatively affect the body by increasing cortisol (stress hormone). Chronically-elevated cortisol levels increase inflammation and lead to brain atrophy (deterioration). This can also lead to a host of diseases later in life.

All fear comes from not trusting God and His Word.

The danger of fear on a biological level.

Let’s take a closer look at what happens if we experience the lack of agape love and the associated negative emotions like fear, stress, depression, anxiety, and hopelessness.

This negatively affects the brain chemistry. It lowers serotonin (leading to anxiety and depression) and dopamine (bringing about feelings of hopelessness and helplessness) and increases adrenalin, leading to higher stress levels, anxiety, and hostility. High levels of adrenalin are also associated with medical conditions like hypertension, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes, collectively leading to atherosclerosis and stroke.

The body responds to the lowered levels of dopamine by trying to increase the levels again to bring about equilibrium. The following are natural ways to increase dopamine release: drinking, eating, exercising, sex, and drugs. Can you see the body’s attempt to rectify dopamine imbalances (caused by the lack of love) can result in what we see as addictive behavior? In other words, many addictions we see today reflect chronic destructive emotions that are your body’s way to restoring equilibrium caused by the lack of love.

The body begins the immune response and inflammatory process by secreting pro-inflammatory chemicals. These chemicals have numerous negative effects on the body. First, it negatively affects the heart muscle by putting it under strain and necessitating it to work harder. Like any other pump, it will wear out sooner if overworked. Second, it causes atheroma, which is the narrowing of the arteries. These chemicals cause inflammation in the rest of the body, leading to the formation of tumors and then certain types of cancers. It can then lead to the development of type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and disc degeneration

This pro-inflammatory state further limits the production of dopamine and serotonin in the brain, leading to a negative cycle. This kills the hippocampus (brain) cells, which are also responsible for short-term memory. This can naturally lead to reduced memory and confusion that can ultimately contribute to Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. Now the increased cortisol and noradrenaline and lowered serotonin stimulate the amygdala. As mentioned, the amygdala is the part of the brain supporting the emotions of fear, anxiety, panic, and rage. This leads to irrational behavior and can cause more panic and anxiety. This process impairs pre-frontal cortex function and blocks neurogenesis (formation of new brain cells) and neuroplasticity (the ability to change, transform, renew, and rewire your brain/mind).

As you can see, this causes a negative feedback loop in the brain and body—in other words, a negative downward spiral that starts with chronically-negative emotions. These negative emotions/mind-states, born out of the lack of love, release a cascade of events stimulating hormones, neurotransmitters, and parts of the brain that aggravate and worsen the subjective negative experience of the individual and cause disease.

I know that is a mouthful of biology and science. All you need to remember is that love is not just a feeling that comes and goes. By participating in, receiving, and giving the agape love of God, we can influence the lives and health of everyone we touch.

The devil uses trauma and pain in our lives to break down relationships. Resentment, unforgiveness, rejection, fear, self-righteousness, and pride can lead to separation between God, yourself, and others. This is why the Bible puts such a big emphasis on love and forgiveness. Remember, agape is also forgiving. You for-give it; you give before the person earns it. We get for-givenness (agape) from God by for-giving other people. We receive agape from God to the degree to which we give it to others. We are vessels or stewards of agape when we give others love before they can earn it. And the more we forgive, the more we are forgiven.

Thank God for giving you His selfless love today. Meditate on this and become a steward of His love. Give this love to those around you, especially those who cannot give you anything in return. This is how we can change lives and manifest the Kingdom of God today.

There are far-reaching consequences if we disobey the “greatest” commandment. However, the same is true if we decide to obey this commandment. In our next section, we will uncover some of the blessings and benefits that come from obedience.