NO, it’s not one’s love for oneself,
as a very popular
song, covered by the late Whitney Houston, would put it. The greatest
love of all is God’s love for all of us which we are commanded to give
one another and for which we are properly empowered.
We need to know more about this love, because it certainly
is not only a matter of feelings and passion. Neither is it just
philanthropy nor acute social concern. No, it’s not just doing some
charity work.
The greatest love of all can involve all of the above, but
it is still a lot more. It is incarnating God’s love in our own life,
with the same motive that moved God to love us, and with the same end
and power.
We have to be wary of our tendency to lower and diminish
love’s true stature, and to make it strictly our own affair that
follows our own rules, our own biases and preferences, etc. That would
be tantamount to commandeering something that is not ours in the first
place. That would be like stealing.
Love, while it is obviously ours too, comes from God, our
Creator. When we love someone or something, we are actually making use
of the love that comes from God. Our loving is always a participation
in God’s love.
We just have to make sure that we love properly, that we
love always respecting the law God has put into loving. In our loving,
we may just reflect a fraction of that divine standard of love, and
that’s just ok.
What is not ok is when we go against the very essence of
God’s love. Though our human love has many forms, aspects and levels,
it should always abide by the basic nature and law of love given by
God.
The nature and law of love is actually written in our
heart. But as things come, this nature and law in their original state
can be tampered with or distorted. They need to be clarified and
purified, which is actually what Christ did.
While there certainly is some autonomy in the ways our
human love is expressed and developed, that autonomy should never mean
it can go against what God has legislated about love.
Thus, it would be wrong to say that there are certain
aspects of human love where God has nothing to do. God will and should
always be involved, despite our autonomy. I believe that some major
adjusting in our understanding of love is in order, since it can be
readily seen that many times God is taken out of the picture in our
love affairs.
Having said all that, what now comes to mind is that while
it’s true that there can be many forms of love, and all of them can be
legitimate and moral, we also have to realize that we need to aim at
the highest or the greatest love of all.
We need to live the very love of God for all of us. That’s
why Christ left us with the new commandment before ascending into
heaven: “Love one another as I have loved you.”
It’s a love that is universal in range and scope, not only
in terms of quantity or the number of people to be loved, but also in
terms of quality. We have to love everyone in the best way and for the
best motive.
And the ultimate motive for the greatest love of all is
the salvation of all mankind. When Christ said, “Love one another as I
have loved you,” he certainly did not mean that we give others
something. We have to give our whole selves and to help others to
reach the final goal of humanity—our reconciliation with God, our
holiness, our charity, etc.
This is the love that is capable, as St. Paul says, to
bear all things, endures all things, conquers all things. This is the
love that can lead us to our eternal life, not the one that simply
lingers and eventually dies in our earthly sojourn. This is the love
that is stronger than death.
This is the fullness of love to which all of us have to
aspire. We should not allow ourselves to get detained in our worldly
forms of love, no matter how good they are. That’s because if our love
is genuine, it will always go all the way. It does not recognize
limits. It never says enough. With God’s grace, the impossible becomes
possible.
We need to train ourselves to develop this kind of love.
Let’s aim at the fullness of love!
song, covered by the late Whitney Houston, would put it. The greatest
love of all is God’s love for all of us which we are commanded to give
one another and for which we are properly empowered.
We need to know more about this love, because it certainly
is not only a matter of feelings and passion. Neither is it just
philanthropy nor acute social concern. No, it’s not just doing some
charity work.
The greatest love of all can involve all of the above, but
it is still a lot more. It is incarnating God’s love in our own life,
with the same motive that moved God to love us, and with the same end
and power.
We have to be wary of our tendency to lower and diminish
love’s true stature, and to make it strictly our own affair that
follows our own rules, our own biases and preferences, etc. That would
be tantamount to commandeering something that is not ours in the first
place. That would be like stealing.
Love, while it is obviously ours too, comes from God, our
Creator. When we love someone or something, we are actually making use
of the love that comes from God. Our loving is always a participation
in God’s love.
We just have to make sure that we love properly, that we
love always respecting the law God has put into loving. In our loving,
we may just reflect a fraction of that divine standard of love, and
that’s just ok.
What is not ok is when we go against the very essence of
God’s love. Though our human love has many forms, aspects and levels,
it should always abide by the basic nature and law of love given by
God.
The nature and law of love is actually written in our
heart. But as things come, this nature and law in their original state
can be tampered with or distorted. They need to be clarified and
purified, which is actually what Christ did.
While there certainly is some autonomy in the ways our
human love is expressed and developed, that autonomy should never mean
it can go against what God has legislated about love.
Thus, it would be wrong to say that there are certain
aspects of human love where God has nothing to do. God will and should
always be involved, despite our autonomy. I believe that some major
adjusting in our understanding of love is in order, since it can be
readily seen that many times God is taken out of the picture in our
love affairs.
Having said all that, what now comes to mind is that while
it’s true that there can be many forms of love, and all of them can be
legitimate and moral, we also have to realize that we need to aim at
the highest or the greatest love of all.
We need to live the very love of God for all of us. That’s
why Christ left us with the new commandment before ascending into
heaven: “Love one another as I have loved you.”
It’s a love that is universal in range and scope, not only
in terms of quantity or the number of people to be loved, but also in
terms of quality. We have to love everyone in the best way and for the
best motive.
And the ultimate motive for the greatest love of all is
the salvation of all mankind. When Christ said, “Love one another as I
have loved you,” he certainly did not mean that we give others
something. We have to give our whole selves and to help others to
reach the final goal of humanity—our reconciliation with God, our
holiness, our charity, etc.
This is the love that is capable, as St. Paul says, to
bear all things, endures all things, conquers all things. This is the
love that can lead us to our eternal life, not the one that simply
lingers and eventually dies in our earthly sojourn. This is the love
that is stronger than death.
This is the fullness of love to which all of us have to
aspire. We should not allow ourselves to get detained in our worldly
forms of love, no matter how good they are. That’s because if our love
is genuine, it will always go all the way. It does not recognize
limits. It never says enough. With God’s grace, the impossible becomes
possible.
We need to train ourselves to develop this kind of love.
Let’s aim at the fullness of love!
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