The Principles
of Growth
Growth in the Physical Cosmos
The growth of humankind's natural environment is empowered autonomously,
in accordance with the principles of creation. Given the elements
required for growth, plants and animals pass through three stages of
development to reach maturity, guided by natural laws created by
God.
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Animals and
plants, lacking a spiritual nature, do not consciously participate in
their own growing processes: God endowed their internal characters with
instructions and instincts which guide them to fulfillment according to
the purposes for which they were made.The same holds true for the
physical bodies of human beings. Given the necessary elements, such as
sunlight and air, food and drink, men and women grow naturally to full
physical maturity, becoming physically capable of reproduction and
exercising dominion over nature and all material things.
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The Indirect
Dominion of Law
Human beings are not only physical, however. They have a spiritual nature
as well as a body, an inner being through which they are linked with God
and other people. Since this internal mind of human beings governs their
entire identity and life, its growth to maturity is ultimately more
important than the growth of the physical body. What then is spiritual
growth and how is it achieved?
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Since humankind was made to receive and reciprocate God's
love, the most important purpose for men and women is learning how to
give and receive true love. Essentially, growth of the spirit is growth
in capacity to give and receive pure love. This development of love is
what enables men and women to resemble God fully and realize the three
blessings. In the formation stage, a child begins this process by
receiving and giving love with its parents and older brothers and
sisters.The child expresses children's love in responding to the love it
receives. As it grows, it learns to give and receive more in the intimate
circle of its family,
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complemented by
loving relationships with relatives and friends, expanding the circle of
love. Eventually, he or she develops the capacity for mutual love. On
this foundation of fully mature love, a man and woman are prepared to
enter into a relationship of conjugal love and take full responsibility
for children, giving them unconditional parental love. The growth of
love is accomplished in accordance with God's law.
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Before individuals are fully mature, they must be guided
by instructions from God so that they do not misuse their capacity to
love. It is the role of parents to communicate the laws of true love to
their children, through word and deed. Children who grow into men and
women learning how to love according to God's principles live virtuous lives
and fulfill the purpose of their creation. True parents are fully
qualified to guide their children to maturity and fulfillment of the
three blessings. In particular, the father and mother, with the wisdom
and compassion of true parental love, know when a child has reached the
level of maturity to enter into a relationship of conjugal love and
become a parent, and can provide the best advice in selection of a
spouse.
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Love is a spontaneous expression of heart. It cannot be
programmed into a person or forced from someone. It must be freely given
and received. For this reason, God created human beings with the freedom
to make conscious choices. Humans learn to give and receive true love by
learning to make the right choices in life. just as someone needs to
study and internalize the rules of mathematics or language to become a
master in those fields, so too an individual needs to master the rules of
love to become mature in its practice. Once heart is perfected through
this maturation process, all its expressions of love flow freely and
spontaneously in accordance with the rules of true love.
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Since God is the source of all love, the principles of
true love are His creation and thus any expression of love in
contradiction to His rules would be temporal and false. It is these laws,
together with corrective instructions that are variously articulated by
the world's religions, as, for example, in the Ten Commandments given to
Moses, the Sermon on the Mount of Jesus and the Five Pillars of Islam in
the teachings of Mohammed. All religious laws derive from one: human
beings should not misuse - the love of God. Described metaphorically in
both the Bible and the Koran, this is the only law God gave to the first
man and woman, Adam and Eve. They were told they were free to enjoy the
Garden of Eden in its entirety, with one caution: they were not allowed
to partake of the fruit of a particular tree. This prohibition meant they
were warned, at the cost of their lives, not to engage in illicit love.
(A full explanation of these scriptural accounts is given in Chapter 7.)
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The rules of love have to be articulated because people
are born immature and have to pass through a learning process, guided by
the laws of God, to reach maturity. Therefore, to cultivate true love and
grow to completion, individuals must exercise their free will in
obedience to the laws of God.
God's laws contain the instructions that people must follow to reach the
goal of full maturity, but in starting life as infants, men and women
cannot comprehend such laws and have no knowledge of God at all. For this
reason, the role of parents is vital. Parents have to educate their
children in the application of God's laws to personal behavior and life
in general. Through parental discipline children learn how to grow in
harmony with the principles of God's creation. Until men and women have
completed the three stages of the growing period and become fully mature,
they remain only partial images of God. This means that the communication
between God and humanity during the growing period is limited by human
immaturity, very much as the relationship between mature parents and
their children is limited by the immaturity of the children. As the
children grow in understanding and love, their relationship with their
parents deepens and broadens. So it is with God and humankind.
The goal of human growth is to achieve oneness with God: full
compatibility of heart and love. In that stage of being, true love will
be perfected, all-embracing love in the image of God's true love, and
human actions will be completely at one with God's will. To reach that
goal, men and women must deliberately obey the word, or laws, of God.
During the period of human growth, when God's control of human beings
requires the mediation of His laws, individuals remain in the indirect
dominion of God: they are not yet completely accessible and responsive to
God.
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