Love is creative. Love is transformative. Love can create something good that was not there before. Love can take what is there and transform it into something better.

The Christian faith teaches that God created the universe ex nihilo: out of nothing. Not out of some pre-existing primordial matter, but out of nothing. The entire cosmos, everything that exists in the universe, all created out of nothingness. How could that be? How could God possibly have created everything that exists, including ourselves, out of nothingness? By the creative power of love. That is why the Christian faith also teaches that God created the universe ex amore: out of love. Love can make be. Love can bring something into existence that did not exist before. Finding and approving of the good in other people (and ourselves) is actually a form of participation in creation, in God’s creative power, because it is a participation in God’s creative love.

Purely human love can be transformative (as exemplified, at a simple level, by what has been referred to as the “Pygmalion effect”), but just think of what love can do when it is the divine love flowing through us, the divine love that created everything that exists and sustains everything in being from moment to moment! If we take the time and effort to look carefully, we can see goodness in other people that we may never have noticed before. In fact, we can sometimes see goodness in them that they have never noticed before! We may even be able to see goodness in them that is not actually there yet! When we look at another person with an open mind and an open heart, we can see into the possible future. We can catch a glimpse of God’s bright image of that person. We can catch sight of the God-given potential for goodness in that person, a vision of who and what God created that person to be. We can see that person, at least partially, through God’s eyes. And when we communicate that goodness to the person in whom we see it, when we convey our approval of the goodness we see in that person, that approval can transform them. That approval, that encouragement of the good and the potential for good in the other person, can cause them to blossom and thrive like never before. Some parents know this. Some teachers know this. Some coaches know this. They have seen it happen firsthand. In fact, one of the most rewarding experiences one can ever have as a parent, as a teacher, or as a coach, is to watch something good and beautiful appear in your child, in your student, in your athlete, that was not there before, or that was at best partial and undeveloped, in response to your approval and your encouragement of that person.

God has given each of us the incredible privilege, and the serious responsibility, of participating in the creative, transformative power of love. Take the time today to stop and notice the goodness in at least one person, and to praise them for that goodness. You just might transform someone’s life.

* This article is based on an excerpt from Rick’s latest book, The Book of Love: Brief Meditations. Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

Copyright 2024 Rick Clements