“Love one another, just as I have loved you.” -John 15:12
Today’s gospel reminded us of God’s greatest commandment: love one another as He loves us. I’m sure many of us are aware of this but do we follow?
It’s easy to say that we follow. In today’s world where love is often misinterpreted, I bet all of us are pretty confident that we love one another as God does. And I assume that we also misinterpreted the word ‘follow’.
FOLLOW: UNDERSTAND, TAKE IN, CHARACTERIZE (http://thesaurus.com)
LOVE. Many of us know but only a few understand, take it in and characterize it. Even I thought I was an expert in this ‘til I discovered that I don’t really have that much love for myself, others and most especially to God. It’s painful to learn that I didn’t actually value God’s love. Embarrassing yet very fulfilling once I took all of God in me. I’m still in the process of holding His love firmly and locking Him up in my heart, but the intensity of my hope is high. A reminder to self: don’t even think about losing a love like this.
Going back, how do we follow if we don’t understand, take it in and characterize it?
The world and its people are so hard to love. There are millions of reasons to hate and unlove, I don’t blame you for being half-hearted to God’s plea. Been there. As long as I can rationalize how the world was being unfair and undeserving of love, God’s greatest command remained illogical to me. But then the more I dip my heart into the circumstances that the world offer, I continued to sink with its unfairness even if I have realized that it’s all part of God’s plan.
Sometimes, even if we see how God is working in us, both through our good and tough times, we go on being stuck on the moments itself rather than the reflections. Therefore, loving gets difficult because our hearts are attached more tightly to what the world is making of us rather than what God wants us to be.
If we based our intentions on the principles of the world and on people’s justifications, we will never understand how to love others as God loves them. Consequently, we cannot follow. We can only pursue God’s commandment if we fully believe and receive God even if the world says otherwise.
Just like an impersonator- looking up to his/her idol, believing in their capabilities, studying their ways, practicing their personality, embracing their sense of thought and feeling, then they become an effective imitator.
LOVE. Let’s start by looking up to it and not looking down. Then believe, study and practice. And as we fully embrace such romance with the Lord, we can effectively follow God’s character and love others like He does.
