Limiting Jesus

Many feel there are things God would not do. But I have always thought God is limitless and can accomplish anything. People say that God would not command that we murder His children. And I agree. But I think when we categorize God or Christ then in some ways we are limiting them to fit within the confines of our minds. Some of us may be right and others may be wrong but I think it's a mistake to limit God.A Jewish argument against Jesus being God is that God could never fit His infinite self into human form. But that argument is limiting Gods' power and abilities.For me when I ask what Jesus would do I think of His description of the two greatest commandments and His one and only new commandment we see in John:

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Matthew 22:36-40

So love of God and love of ever one of His children is the foundation on which everything else in the gospel is predicated.

34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. John 13:34-35

So for me an act or words that live up to the ethos of love are the Godly solutions to every occasion. And speech and actions that run contrary to this ethos are unGodly and unChristlike.

But don't take my word for it, I submit for your approval a talk from April 2014 general conference:

"We cannot truly love God if we do not love our fellow travelers on this mortal journey. Likewise, we cannot fully love our fellowmen if we do not love God, the Father of us all. The Apostle John tells us, “This commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.”³ We are all spirit children of our Heavenly Father and, as such, are brothers and sisters. As we keep this truth in mind, loving all of God’s children will become easier.

Actually, love is the very essence of the gospel, and Jesus Christ is our Exemplar. His life was a legacy of love. The sick He healed; the downtrodden He lifted; the sinner He saved. At the end the angry mob took His life. And yet there rings from Golgotha’s hill the words: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do”⁴—a crowning expression in mortality of compassion and love.

There are many attributes which are manifestations of love, such as kindness, patience, selflessness, understanding, and forgiveness. In all our associations, these and other such attributes will help make evident the love in our hearts."

Love: The Essence of the Gospel by Thomas S. Monson

These ideas and ethics are what I consider to be Godly. Whereas the Deuteronomy idea of rape being okay as long as the victim marries her rapist and pays off her father in silver. That is for me completely out of line with the God I have come to know.

And there are other passages that make my skin crawl but most of us disregard them as we do many other disturbing commandments like forbidding pork for example.

But I still cannot rule out something being Godly because I may be wrong but God will always be right. I can't fully appreciate the mind of God because I am not His equal. None of us will know for certain, we must go on faith and love.

It is hard to tell sometimes what is of God and what is not but the limitations of our mind only limits our understanding of what is Godly. I think the deeper we dig the clearer these answers become.

All we are called to do is love one another as Christ loves us and to let our faith lead the way. Our ideas of God only limit what we can understand, God has never been limited by our concepts of Him. 

I know love, forgiveness, acceptance and understanding are Godly but I can't say for certain what else may or may not be of God. I just have ideas and faith. For me, that's enough. And I think if we remove the limits we confine our ideas of God with, we can open ourselves up to more light and further knowledge.