Wonder what God’s most critical and consequential question will be for us when we die?
Whether we like it or not, we all take a comprehensive FINAL EXAM at the end of our earthly life. God will ask us one inescapable and soul-searching question as He did with my friend and near-death experiencer (NDEr) Jeff Olsen:
TO WHAT DEGREE DID YOU LEARN TO LOVE?
As short and simple as it sounds, God’s question is the most important one we’ll ever be asked. It’s most definitely one we’ll want to have solid and soul-satisfying answers for.
Rather than trying to cram for God’s FINAL EXAM question in our golden years like many do to potentially “make up” for past perceived wrongdoings and sins, it is best we all dive into and consider this question TODAY – instead of waiting until we’re on our deathbed or find ourselves standing before God at the Pearly Gates.
Despite the consequential question being a mere eight words, it reveals to us the real purpose of our life.
TO WHAT DEGREE DID YOU LEARN TO LOVE?
Let’s tease out 3 key parts of the question to see how we can best apply it to our lives NOW so we can at least pass if not ace our most critical test.
LOVE
LOVE is the most valuable part of the question.
LOVE is the single most frequent and important word NDErs use when relaying their near-death experience. They just can’t believe the power and purity of the LOVE they experience from God in Heaven.
The LOVE positively overwhelms them, comforts them, and in some cases, surprises them. They just can’t believe the vast amount of love they receive and may feel unworthy of it.
“I felt the unspeakable, all encompassing, unconditional Love of God for me. It felt really ‘personal’ and because of its unconditional character it is almost incomprehensible. To the point where I thought: ‘All this Love for me? Who am I? I am just a boy who grew up in a middle-lower class family, in a regular neighborhood, went to a regular school. I have no accomplishments. I’ve never done anything remarkably special. I’m just a regular guy, a normal human. What have I done to deserve this? Is ALL this LOVE really for me?’ The moment I finished that thought, I was instantly ‘swallowed up’ by this amazing Love. ‘I’ was completely GONE! There was nothing but Love. No me, no God: just eternal, incomprehensible, indescribable, total, complete, absolute LOVE.” Carlos K.
NDErs realize in God’s question that the main purpose of our human life on earth is to be this LOVE. The goal is to bring the healing and helpful LOVE of Heaven down to our often crazy, chaotic, and callous earth. Our goal as humans is to be this LOVE, give this LOVE, accept this LOVE, and model this LOVE as often as possible.
“The amount of love I felt was overwhelming, and from this perspective, I knew how powerful I am, and saw the amazing possibilities we as humans are capable of achieving during a physical life. I found out that my purpose now would be to live ‘Heaven on earth’ using this new understanding, and to share this knowledge with other people.” Anita Moorjani
“I brought back from the spirit realms the belief that our purpose is to help bring Heaven to earth and into our daily lives.” Paul Ammons
LEARN
Another key part of the question is LEARN.
Many NDErs refer to life on earth as a boarding school for our souls. We leave the bliss and beauty of Heaven and come here to learn lessons about love, kindness, compassion, patience, forgiveness, and many other spiritual qualities.
“Death does not exist. Life goes on. Earth is a boarding school for the children of the Creator. When the semester is over, we get to go HOME again.” Donna G.
Earth is a highly effective school because it provides us with helpful teachers, challenging lessons, tough tests, and both friendly and frustrating classmates. We learn from them what it feels like when we make loving and unloving choices, say helpful and hurtful words, and act in cooperative and uncooperative ways.
“I was told that the earth is like a big school, a place where you can apply spiritual lessons you have learned and test yourself to see whether you can ‘live’ what you already know you should do. Basically, the earth is a place where you can walk the walk and live the way it should be done. It was made clear to me that some people come to the earth to work on one or more aspects of themselves, while others come to also help the world as a whole… We’re under continual pressure to make decisions that have a spiritual base. We may be taught on the ‘Other Side’ what we are ‘supposed to do,’ but can we live it under the pressures of the earth? From what I saw and hear on the Other Side, everything is about relationships and taking care of each other. We aren’t expected to be perfect, but we are expected to learn. All of our experiences in a lifetime follow some sort of pattern, and we often learn the same lessons, but in a different way and under various circumstances. This is how we know what we are here to learn and test.” Jean R.
TO WHAT DEGREE
Finally, our primary purpose on earth is to increase and enhance our capacity to LOVE.
Our goal here as humans is to develop, grow, and refine our souls so we can LOVE bigger, broader, and bolder. Over time, we should ideally enhance our capacity to LOVE, forgive, accept, nurture, support, give, and serve. The challenge is to expand our LOVE so we can LOVE more unconditionally and universally.
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
Unconditional love means loving people without any conditions or strings attached. We love people purely for who they are regardless of what they can do for us or how they treat us. This unconditional LOVE is the same unrestricted LOVE that God gives us in Heaven. He challenges us to bring and be this same kind of LOVE on earth.
“You’re here on earth to learn about unconditional love and you’re still learning – we all are – so don’t put pressure on yourself. It would serve you well to be an attentive student who’s eager to study hard; after all, love is the most important and beautiful subject you can study at the school of life… Remember that you’re here to experience and learn all about love because that’s your true nature.” Anke Evertz
UNIVERSAL LOVE
Love is also meant to be universal, meaning we extend it to everyone. Sure, it is easy to love our immediate family and best friends but can we extend LOVE to our nosy neighbors, crazy conspiracy theory spouting uncles, recalcitrant coworkers, bossy bosses, casual acquaintances, complete strangers, and even our worst enemies?
- Can we LOVE the people who have a different religion than us?
- Can we LOVE the people who have a different political party than us?
- Can we LOVE the people who have a different sexual orientation than us?
This doesn’t necessarily mean we need to agree with their viewpoints but can we still LOVE them despite our differences?
“I learned that one of the main reasons we’re here on Earth is simple: to love. That’s it…Yes, we are here to enjoy our human selves, too, and perhaps even learn, but the heart of why we are here is love. While the message sounds pretty simple, as humans it’s not always easy to put into practice. We’re asked to love everyone regardless of their political persuasion, religious affiliation, their job title, annual income, skin color, age, and who they in turn love… It doesn’t mean that we have to agree with everyone, but it does mean that through love and compassion, we work to overcome our differences and solve our problems, together, as one humanity… What it does mean, though, is that we recognize other people fully for who they are: someone who carried a spiritual spark of love at his or her core. It means that we show them respect, compassion, kindness, gentleness, and thus love.” Nancy Rynes
At the end of our human life God will ask us to assess:
How well and consistently we LOVED?
How much we LEARNED about LOVE?
To what degree did we expand our ability to LOVE UNCONDITIONALLY AND UNIVERSALLY?
How would YOU answer those questions TODAY?
If you like your answers, keep on keeping on.
If you are concerned about any of them, consider this your spiritual wake up call to start putting more time into studying for God’s FINAL EXAM that is on your horizon… as early as tomorrow or for sure at some point in your future.
Here’s hoping you’ll ace the most important FINAL EXAM you’ll ever take!
To learn more about LOVE and the other lessons God hopes we’ll learn during our time on earth, check out Jeff’s book 10 Life-Changing Lessons from Heaven.