The Transformation of Love
Greetings, brothers and sisters. This is Dr. James Perry continuing with our series where we seek to
explore the deeper meanings of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Over the years, the heavenly
Father has revealed many revelations of spiritual truth to me, and I want to share them with you. This
morning we will ponder our lives as we seek to understand how the Father's love transforms
disappointment and depression.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Transformation of Love
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and
ye shall be sorrowful but your sorrow shall be turned into joy." John, Chapter 26, Verse 28.
There are biological and spiritual causes of depression. When we measure earthly goals as equal to
spiritual ones, disappointment and depression occur as a result. We become disappointed when we
realize we have failed in a particular earthly pursuit. We may fail to realize our cherished dreams or
hopes. We may fail to live up to our highest ideals. We may suddenly awaken from our fantasizes
to life on life's terms. We may become aware of having been deceived by someone we trusted, that
life hasn't turned out to our expectations. Depression is an emotional reaction that often follows such
failures. This depression causes us to withdraw from the outside world. It causes us to feel trapped
inside of a prison of helplessness, powerlessness, and worthlessness. Inside this prison, the past,
present, and future all lead nowhere.
The pain of this experience is exquisitely real. It has a peculiar kind of anguish, unrelated to physical
pain, but just as real. But even in this state, the Father is still with us. His urge to love remains
constant within us. This urge causes us to want to be with others. Often times because of our desire
to isolate ourselves, we get so wrapped up in our selfishness like a cocoon, and this urge to love
misinterpreted. Sometimes we channel this into destructive and unproductive behavior such as
shopping, overeating, gambling, or drinking. Sometimes we express this urge in turns of human
intimacy. But the real intent of this urge is to induce us to take our minds and souls off of ourselves,
to get us involved with other selves in a loving unselfish manner. Thus it is seen that depression is
many times a selfish reaction with a pronouncement of a negative judgement upon ourselves.
When we contemplate our temporal state with its many disappointments, we should realize that these
signal that it is time for us to build our hopes on an eternal foundation. But instead of heeding the
meanings concealed in theses disappointments, we slip into depression. But during these periods of
inadequate insight, we should continue to do our duty and accept our lot while faith realizing that
nothing of spiritual value is ever lost.
Preoccupation with self can only result in earthly disappointment and, if not transferred to
preoccupation with the Father's will, will lead to eternal disappointment and eternal oblivion. But
even so, many of our disappointments have turned out to be blessings. Some people are truly blessed
and do not know it, while some others are cursed, thinking they are blessed. A life that does not
require grappling and struggling with reality is the greatest disappointment of all time. We must
become preoccupied with doing the Father's will, and in time this will lead to a disappointment-proof
life. Since the Father's reality is spiritual, identifying with these realities never brings the harvest of
disappointment.
Brothers and sisters, the solution to the problem of disappointment and its aftermath of depression
is love, unselfish love. We can never experience disappointment in the selfish sense when we are
loving others unselfishly. True, others may disappoint us by failing to live up to the light of truth they
have, but that kind of disappointment never brings down the shade of darkness over our own souls.
The transformation of love--if allowed to do its work--will transform all of us who are locked in self.
This concludes today's message on understanding the meaning of how the Father's love transforms
disappointment and depression. We hope you find something in this message to ponder and pray
about as you go about your day. Until next time, this is Dr. James Perry.
Inspirational Messages
By Dr. James Perry
Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done!
The Transformation of Love
