The Backwards Math of the Gospel

If I have ten pieces of candy and give five away, I’m left with five. Simple math. But there’s something amazing about the gospel: the math is backwards. 

If we share love it doesn’t diminish. It multiplies. The more we give, the more we receive. Instead of running out, we overflow.

This same paradox applies to obedience and freedom. The world sees God’s commandments as restrictions, like chains that limit our choices. But in reality, obedience is what sets us free. (A bird is only free to fly if it respects the laws of flight and moves within the truths of reality, like gravity.) True freedom isn’t the ability to do whatever we want. True freedom is the peace that comes from knowing what really matters and living in harmony with God’s will.

God’s commandments are not arbitrary but are simply revelations of things as they really are. If we build on a sure foundation, we will stand. If we don’t, we will fall. It’s not God arbitrarily blessing some and punishing others. It’s just truth, which even an omnipotent God is bound by. 

Humbling ourselves and submitting our will to His can be difficult, and from a mortal perspective, it can feel restricting. The irony is that in giving up our will, we actually gain more. More strength, more peace, more wisdom, and ultimately, more joy.

In the world’s logic, sacrifice means loss. In God’s reality, sacrifice brings increase. Heaven is the only place where those who give everything, gain everything. In the gospel, the math is backwards, but the truth is eternal.