What is Love??
Romans 13, 8-10. 8 Owe no man anything, save to love one another: for he that loveth his neighbor bath fulfillled the law. 9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not covet, and if there be any other commandment, it is summed up in this word, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbor; love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.
The commandment "Thou shalt love they neighbor as thyself" is not less important o imperative as "Thou shalt not kill".
In Matthew 22:34-40 34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they thought up a fresh question of their own to ask him. 35 One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: 36 "Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?" 37 Jesus replied, "'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments."
In Mark 12:28-34 28 One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the discussion. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" 29 Jesus replied, "The most important commandment is this: 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. 30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.' 31 The second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' No other commandment is greater than these." 32 The teacher of religious law replied, "Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other. 33 And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbors as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law." 34 Realizing this man's understanding, Jesus said to him, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God." And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.
What is love? According to the dictionary love is:
1. A feeling of strong attachment induced by that which delights or commands admiration; pre["e]minent kindness or devotion to another; affection; tenderness; as, the love of brothers and sisters.
2. Especially, devoted attachment to, or tender or passionate affection for, one of the opposite sex.
3. Courtship; -- chiefly in the phrase to make love, i. e., to court, to woo, to solicit union in marriage.
4. Affection; kind feeling; friendship; strong liking or desire; fondness; good will; -- opposed to hate; often with of and an object.
5. Due gratitude and reverence to God.
Keep yourselves in the love of God. --Jude 21.
As you can see the dictionary give us several meanings to the word love.
Do we love our neighbor as ourselves or love God with all our heart and all our soul?
How do we express love in our lives? Are we forgiving toward others, expressing unconditional love to our fellow man? Are we loving towards nature taking care of Mother Earth by not polluting or contaminating the world we live in? Are we loving towards all creatures, by taking care that we do not kill them, destroy their habitats so that they do not become extinct?
What are we doing to be more loving in our lives? Do we help our neighbor, or do we just close our eyes to suffering and pain. When we don't help our fellow man, we are also sinning by omission.
It saids in the bible in Matthew 25:31-46 31 "But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. 34 Then the King will say to those on the right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.' 37 "Then these righteous ones will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?' 40 And the King will tell them, 'I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!' 41 "Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, 'Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his demons! 42 For I was hungry, and you didn't feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn't give me anything to drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn't invite me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me no clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn't visit me.' 44 "Then they will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?' 45 And he will answer, 'I assure you, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.' 46 And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life."
Do we forgive our fellow man?
It saids in Matthew 18:21-35 21 Then Peter came to him and asked, "Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?" 22 "No!" Jesus replied, "seventy times seven! 23 "For this reason, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. 24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. 25 He couldn't pay, so the king ordered that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt. 26 But the man fell down before the king and begged him, 'Oh, sir, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.' 27 Then the king was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt. 28 "But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. 29 His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. 'Be patient and I will pay it,' he pleaded. 30 But his creditor wouldn't wait. He had the man arrested and jailed until the debt could be paid in full. 31 "When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him what had happened. 32 Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, 'You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Shouldn't you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?' 34 Then the angry king sent the man to prison until he had paid every penny. 35 "That's what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters in your heart."
One day we all have to face our Father in Heaven. What will you answer when He asks you what did you do for the least of your brothers? What will you answer when He asks you if you were forgiving towards your fellow man? These are very important questions we must all ask ourselves. I am and I hope you are too.
But how can we love our neighbor when we bearly love ourselves. Are we good to ourselves? Do we treat ourselves with love and respect or do we put ourselves down into thinking we are not any good. Do we forgive ourselves, when truly repentant of our deeds? When we do not love ourselves we are telling God that He did not do a good job. For it saids in Genesis 1:31-31 Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was excellent in every way. We must love ourselves by taking care of our bodies, mind and soul. Then we can truly love our fellow man as ourselves.
Our true purpose in the World is to serve others. The world would be a better place if we started loving each other even those who have done us wrong. By forgiving, there would not be hate and consecquently no wars in the world. Love starts with our family, then our community, then our country and then the whole world. Let us all put our grain of sand to make this world a better place to live in, by loving our fellow man. We will become the Shepherds of our Father`s Sheep.
Prayer of St. Francis Of Assisi
LORD, Make me an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury pardon. Where there is doubt faith. Where there is despair hope. Where there is darkness light. Where there is sadness joy. Oh Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek To be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand To be loved as to love. for It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
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