Thursday, 21 July 2016
TO BE A DISCIPLE IS TO BE IN LOVE
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” John 13:34-35 (New International Version)
By Christian Ukaegbu
I welcome you child
of God to this days reflection on the
word of God. Take few moments and read the verse above, try to ask yourself “is
this verse meant for me, what is God trying to communicate to me through this
verse? I believe you have done it, now let us go on.
Love is a
path that leads to an encounter with God
and the closing of one’s eyes to our neighbour
blinds us to God. It is clearly revealed that love is not merely a sentiment,
for sentiment come and go. The word sentiment can be marvellous sparks but it is not the fullness of love.
Our calling should be rooted in love, whenever we
love God we do so for our own benefit and not for God who stands in no need of
anything; he is all-sufficient God. For
our calling is of freedom but we shouldn’t use this opportunity for the
gratification of our flesh rather we should manifest this love in our neighbours.
As the Latin adage would say ‘nemo
dat quod non
habet’ indeed one
cannot give what one does not have, for man
being made up of body and soul, his actions are made manifest in the corporal and spiritual respectively. The more prudently and
fervently we act, the more complete our charity will be, for even though we
feel no love towards our fellow men or towards God, reason insists that we make
necessary effort to love.
However, reason convinces us that we must act so, not
because it is for our own advantage or use but simply because God and our neighbour are worthy of our love. For instance,
if love is a prudent experience, there will be a true enjoyment of what we
desire and other attractions will be minimized;
and if also love is prudent, there will be nothing unwise, mistaken or
indiscreet in our behavior and if it is strong and preserving it will never be overcome by any temptation.
My dear, have you fallen into the vice of judging others?
It is natural that we should judge and critics things and actions that are
abnormal and evil but we should also remember to judge with love and understanding.
Let us then desist from judging any man
from his outward appearance, for his physical appearance gives little or no
idea of the content of his mind and soul. No one knows the thought of the heart
but God. It is in the inner being of man that goodness and evil reside, it is
practically impossible for us to see this and so we shouldn’t think that the
physical portrayal of bodily movements can tell us all there is to him or her. Let us love as Christ has given
us the injunction.
I love it where Christ said by this everyone will know that you are my disciple, it simply
means, by loving one another or
better still by being in love with each
other. Hence being in love is a sign that people will see us and know that
we are God’s disciple. Love is our trademark and our banner, let us not shy
away from loving and embracing each other in mutual understanding and service.
We should take note that, REAL LOVE means friendship which is genuine, it is quiet
understanding, mutual confidence, in it,
there are sharing and forgiving and it
remains loyal through hard and good times because it settles less than
perfection and makes way for human weakness.
The acknowledgement
of the living God is a path which leads to love. This process or act of love is
never ‘finished’ and complete throughout life; it changes and matures, and thus
remains faithful to itself. Love by its nature should be able to relate to others,
Love grows through love, Love is divine because it comes from God and
unites us to God.Love,
in the words of Leibniz, is finding
pleasure in the perfection of others.
The fruit of Love is service, let us then embrace one another
with love because, in love we see the perfect face of God in humanity, we understand other person’s plight and feel her joys, sorrows and anxiety. We will no longer point with our fingers in accusation rather we will cuddle with our arms in acceptance.
with love because, in love we see the perfect face of God in humanity, we understand other person’s plight and feel her joys, sorrows and anxiety. We will no longer point with our fingers in accusation rather we will cuddle with our arms in acceptance.
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Thank you i really enjoyed this reflection
ReplyDeleteSure.. Love grows through love. Nonetheless, we do ourselves the greater good than the other if we love.
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