Some people ask, “Why doesn’t God love us as we are? Why does he prescribe so many rules?”

To understand God’s love for us, let’s compare it with parents’ love for their children. Loving parents accept their children as they are and provide for their sustenance and growth. And they also set rules so that their children develop good habits, become responsible and reap a bright future. If parents, in the name of being loving, set no rules, they do a disservice to their children. God refuses to do such a disservice to us.

God certainly loves us as we are. Through nature, he provides us life’s necessities: heat, light, air, water, food. And he personally accompanies everyone in his Supersoul manifestation.  Such is his love that he resides eternally in every heart and guides us while we explore our various desires (18.61).

Yet God loves us too much to let us stay as we are. Presently, we are often undersold by our desires. Why? Because our desires usually center on greater physical comfort and sensual pleasure. Such superficial desires prevent us from unleashing our many potentials. 

God doesn’t want us to live as mere shadows of ourselves. To help us value the things that are truly valuable, he gives us various rules through scriptures. These rules regulate our lower desires and irrigate our higher desires. When followed diligently, they empower us to do better things and become better beings. And the ultimate purpose of all rules is love; they help us lovingly harmonize with God’s will. Such devotional connection and contribution leads us to a life of enduring fulfillment (18.62).

When we thus see rules as expressions of love, we can appreciate that we are always loved by God.  

Think it over:

  • How does God love us as we are? 
  • How do our desires undersell us?
  • How do rules express God’s love?

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18.61 The Supreme Lord is situated in the hearts of all, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated in a kind of machine made of material energy.

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