first initiative should come from us, and that initiative should be
that of love. We have to love everyone first before we can expect
others to love us in return. Or even when we are not loved in return,
the imperative remains to take the initiative to love everyone first.
We don’t have to wait for others to prove that they
deserve to be loved before loving them. The fact that they are around,
that they exist is reason enough for us to love them. All other
considerations are secondary. Otherwise, that love is a bogus kind of
love.
This has been the example of God as well as the
commandment Christ himself gave us. In the first letter of St. John,
there is a beautiful passage that confirms this point clearly. “We
love, because he (God) first loved us.” (4,19)
That’s true. Our capacity to love others springs from
God’s love for us. And the way God loves us should also be the same
way we love everybody else. If God loves us first, we ought to love
others first also.
God loves us first because he created us even if there
absolutely was no need for him to do that. God loves us first because
even if we sinned and continue to abuse his goodness, he took the
initiative to redeem us, even going all the way to send us his Son who
assumed our human nature with all its weaknesses and sinfulness
without committing sin.
St. Paul expresses this point very beautifully. “God shows
his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”
(Rom 5,8) And even more vividly, St. Paul describes how Christ loves
us. “He (God) made Him (Christ) who knew no sin to be sin on our
behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2
Cor 5,21)
This is the kind of love we have to give to one another,
rid of any ulterior motive, fully and freely given without condition.
It’s a love that fits us for the dignity God has given us, that of
being his image and likeness, that of being his children in his Son
who became man, Jesus Christ.
Difficult? You bet. Impossible? That’s another story. With
God, and always with him, the impossible becomes possible. It is even
commanded. We just have to do the little part that falls on us in this
kind of relationship we ought to have with God and with everybody
else.
We have to learn how to rein in our emotions and passions,
and more importantly, our spiritual faculties of intelligence and
will, so they follow the impulses of God’s grace that goes together
with his gifts of faith, hope and charity.
If we are simple and humble enough to accept and live out
this tremendous truth of our faith, then it should not be difficult to
love others first even if we are not loved in return.
While it’s true that we will always be conditioned by
various human factors, giving rise to different and even conflicting
preferences, etc., we will always be able, with God’s grace, to
transcend them so we can love others the way God loves us.
Christ himself said so: “A new commandment I give you,
that you love one another. As I have loved you, that you also love one
another.” (Jn 13,34)
We have to learn how to be detached from our preferences
even if we continue to have them, which is unavoidable. In fact, those
preferences also serve a good purpose in one’s personal life but also
in the life of society. Thus, it’s good to develop and keep a vibrant
sporting spirit in life.
This detachment would not compromise our capacity to see
things objectively. On the contrary, it enhances all our faculties and
powers. And all our human concerns would be better pursued.
It does not compromise, for example, our concern for
justice nor for prudence, etc. In fact, it would put all our human
faculties and powers in their right places, their functions
facilitated, not impaired.
There would be more integrity in our own personal and
individual lives, as well as more unity and harmony in our social
life. We would know how to rise above our differences and work
together for the common good.
We need to train ourselves to take the initiative to love
others first, first of all by closely following Christ, and
disciplining ourselves accordingly.
that of love. We have to love everyone first before we can expect
others to love us in return. Or even when we are not loved in return,
the imperative remains to take the initiative to love everyone first.
We don’t have to wait for others to prove that they
deserve to be loved before loving them. The fact that they are around,
that they exist is reason enough for us to love them. All other
considerations are secondary. Otherwise, that love is a bogus kind of
love.
This has been the example of God as well as the
commandment Christ himself gave us. In the first letter of St. John,
there is a beautiful passage that confirms this point clearly. “We
love, because he (God) first loved us.” (4,19)
That’s true. Our capacity to love others springs from
God’s love for us. And the way God loves us should also be the same
way we love everybody else. If God loves us first, we ought to love
others first also.
God loves us first because he created us even if there
absolutely was no need for him to do that. God loves us first because
even if we sinned and continue to abuse his goodness, he took the
initiative to redeem us, even going all the way to send us his Son who
assumed our human nature with all its weaknesses and sinfulness
without committing sin.
St. Paul expresses this point very beautifully. “God shows
his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”
(Rom 5,8) And even more vividly, St. Paul describes how Christ loves
us. “He (God) made Him (Christ) who knew no sin to be sin on our
behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2
Cor 5,21)
This is the kind of love we have to give to one another,
rid of any ulterior motive, fully and freely given without condition.
It’s a love that fits us for the dignity God has given us, that of
being his image and likeness, that of being his children in his Son
who became man, Jesus Christ.
Difficult? You bet. Impossible? That’s another story. With
God, and always with him, the impossible becomes possible. It is even
commanded. We just have to do the little part that falls on us in this
kind of relationship we ought to have with God and with everybody
else.
We have to learn how to rein in our emotions and passions,
and more importantly, our spiritual faculties of intelligence and
will, so they follow the impulses of God’s grace that goes together
with his gifts of faith, hope and charity.
If we are simple and humble enough to accept and live out
this tremendous truth of our faith, then it should not be difficult to
love others first even if we are not loved in return.
While it’s true that we will always be conditioned by
various human factors, giving rise to different and even conflicting
preferences, etc., we will always be able, with God’s grace, to
transcend them so we can love others the way God loves us.
Christ himself said so: “A new commandment I give you,
that you love one another. As I have loved you, that you also love one
another.” (Jn 13,34)
We have to learn how to be detached from our preferences
even if we continue to have them, which is unavoidable. In fact, those
preferences also serve a good purpose in one’s personal life but also
in the life of society. Thus, it’s good to develop and keep a vibrant
sporting spirit in life.
This detachment would not compromise our capacity to see
things objectively. On the contrary, it enhances all our faculties and
powers. And all our human concerns would be better pursued.
It does not compromise, for example, our concern for
justice nor for prudence, etc. In fact, it would put all our human
faculties and powers in their right places, their functions
facilitated, not impaired.
There would be more integrity in our own personal and
individual lives, as well as more unity and harmony in our social
life. We would know how to rise above our differences and work
together for the common good.
We need to train ourselves to take the initiative to love
others first, first of all by closely following Christ, and
disciplining ourselves accordingly.
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