Short Lessons on Unconditional Love, Agapé: Envisioning is Key to Having Such Love.

Knowledge of Word, the image of Life or God depending on our beliefs, reveals that envisioning is key to having agapé by stating: “We will be like him (Word) because we will envision him just as he is.”

“Envision” is the correct translation here, not “see”,¹ indicating that the responsibility of actively doing something, rather than the passive act of seeing, falls on us—to envision Word just as he is, which is in his oneness with Name. Until we do, we cannot be like him but instead reflect the error in how we envision him back into ourselves.

This applies to how we envision Word in everyone and give Name all our agapé through them. If I envision Word in you correctly, I reflect the agapé in Word into myself and can love you unconditionally, allowing me to give Name all my agapé through you. I can also see whether you are correctly envisioning Word in me and loving me and Name likewise.

Once we have envisioned Word correctly, we know whether others are envisioning Word in us correctly. If not, they show us only conditional love, no love at all, or hatred. We are willing to forgive them for being blind to Word in us, for forgiveness is part of the nature of unconditional love. But also part of the agapé nature is for us not to be against ourselves.

In other words, forgiving others with unconditional love, often without ever saying a word due to their blindness, gives us the clarity of mind to truly assess words or actions against us. But without agapé even for a moment, we misjudge them for better or worse. For the agapé of Name does not use our past unconditional love to justify any lack of it in the present. It does become an opportunity to learn where we are not envisioning Word just as it is in others.

To learn more about envisioning, see this section:

Learning How to See Spiritually

1. Among the four main Greek verbs translated “see”, only horaó forms nouns translated “vision”, which qualifies it to be trans­lated “mentally see” or “envision” also. Horaó is used more often than the other three Greek verbs combined, making the New Testament a book of visions. For one of the primary reasons that Word came was to teach us how to envision (horaó) Name in order to see (blepo, main Greek word for see) Him—through envisioning Word.

Word said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see (blepo) might see (blepo) [if we learn his teach­ing, for this is not foremost physical healing of sight but a renewing of the mind and training of the senses], and that those who see might become blind.” (John 9:39) To the leaders of his time, Word said, “And the Father [Name] who sent me [Word], that One has borne wit­ness concerning me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor have you envisioned (horaó) His form.” (John 5:37)

We know that when he (Word) manifests, we will be like him because we will envision (horaó) him just as he is.” (1 John 3:2)