Absolutes are not popular. We condemn extremism from all directions. Balance and compromise are more soothing.

But there is a context where absolutes are perfect.

I am comforted by absolutes. Where the language is all and every, no  and none, there is no doubt. It is the language of completeness.

There is no human being who cannot let you down, eventually. Even my most beloved have little power to make everything perfect for me. We do try, but we cannot be absolutely faithful to anyone.

Absolutes are the language of assurance. God’s love is absolute. Jesus was the perfect demonstration of God’s complete love in every second of his life, his death, and his resurrection.

This is one of my favorite passages.:

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Here are a few more absolutes:

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

See? No doubt, no shadow, no maybe. No quibbling or parsing. No worry.

What is your favorite “absolute” passage?