Love with joy.
In today's day and age, it is rather sad to see that the word "love" can only be applied to romance. But was what did Jesus mean when He told his Apostles to "Love one another. As I have loved you, so should you also love one another"? That is what I am going to talk about today.
The idea of love isn't just about romance, but more like how we treat others. Think about this, do you love your parents? That isn't the dumb idea of love we have nowadays right? You genuinely love your parents, so you care for them when they need it, you may try to do something to make them smile. If you have a younger sibling (or have young children of your own) do you ever watch as they bring their parent something they accomplished? Think of Christmas time, when you give gifts to your family and friends. That is real love. Real love is when we do something for another to make them smile or feel cared for.
Now you may be wondering, "Jesus told us to love our enemies. How can we do that?" Well lucky for you, you have come to to the right place. How does one love their enemies? Well, a few ways we can do this. Let's first look at who our enemies are. These enemies may not be physical enemies that one would wage war against. Enemies can be simply a bully at school, a bad teacher, someone who treats you badly. Even though these people treat you badly, we still love them. We should pray for these people and ask God to help them fix their ways. Don't be mean to them. This is not how problems get fixed and you certainly are not showing how Christian you are by punching a bully in the face just because he's that mean to you. We need to love them and pray for them.
There are other ways to love that are less well known. One of these ways is welcoming someone new to your class/work/home or anything that you do. The lack of welcoming in the lives of people is something that I personally am a victim of, and many others as well. Situations when someone new moves into your neighborhood or a new student in your class are good times to be welcoming. How would you feel to walk into a new class where you don't know anyone, only to be welcomed with a few hellos and nothing else? Take time to get to know the new people, try to include them into your activities, and maybe show them around the place. This will truly show love to a complete stranger.
Now, my final point on love is the most important part. This is VERY important. The love of God. This is the most important part of love. Jesus told us to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Then to love our neighbors as ourselves. We must love God with everything we have inside of us. Everything! God created you and the world around you, so we must love Him. Showing God that we love Him may include sacrifice. Laying down our lives, like St. Stephan, St. Peter, St. Agnes, St. Cecilia... the list goes on and on. But maybe we aren't called to martyrdom. Maybe, simple sacrifices such as cutting down on video games to pray or reading the lives of the saints instead of the newest fantasy novel. Sacrifices of schedule, going to mass instead of sleeping in, spending the time to pray in the evening instead of watching a movie. The little sacrifices of love for God can add up.
All of this love must be done with joy. Joy is being glad for all that is good. Joy in the Lord is important to have, even in the roughest of times. Maybe, you can't find enough food to feed your family. Maybe, money is low. Maybe, your being tormented by illness. Many of the saints went through suffering with great joy. Joy in the fact that all their suffering will be done for the greater good of God. So, this week, I want you to go out and love one another with joy. Have a good week!
The idea of love isn't just about romance, but more like how we treat others. Think about this, do you love your parents? That isn't the dumb idea of love we have nowadays right? You genuinely love your parents, so you care for them when they need it, you may try to do something to make them smile. If you have a younger sibling (or have young children of your own) do you ever watch as they bring their parent something they accomplished? Think of Christmas time, when you give gifts to your family and friends. That is real love. Real love is when we do something for another to make them smile or feel cared for.
Now you may be wondering, "Jesus told us to love our enemies. How can we do that?" Well lucky for you, you have come to to the right place. How does one love their enemies? Well, a few ways we can do this. Let's first look at who our enemies are. These enemies may not be physical enemies that one would wage war against. Enemies can be simply a bully at school, a bad teacher, someone who treats you badly. Even though these people treat you badly, we still love them. We should pray for these people and ask God to help them fix their ways. Don't be mean to them. This is not how problems get fixed and you certainly are not showing how Christian you are by punching a bully in the face just because he's that mean to you. We need to love them and pray for them.
There are other ways to love that are less well known. One of these ways is welcoming someone new to your class/work/home or anything that you do. The lack of welcoming in the lives of people is something that I personally am a victim of, and many others as well. Situations when someone new moves into your neighborhood or a new student in your class are good times to be welcoming. How would you feel to walk into a new class where you don't know anyone, only to be welcomed with a few hellos and nothing else? Take time to get to know the new people, try to include them into your activities, and maybe show them around the place. This will truly show love to a complete stranger.
Now, my final point on love is the most important part. This is VERY important. The love of God. This is the most important part of love. Jesus told us to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Then to love our neighbors as ourselves. We must love God with everything we have inside of us. Everything! God created you and the world around you, so we must love Him. Showing God that we love Him may include sacrifice. Laying down our lives, like St. Stephan, St. Peter, St. Agnes, St. Cecilia... the list goes on and on. But maybe we aren't called to martyrdom. Maybe, simple sacrifices such as cutting down on video games to pray or reading the lives of the saints instead of the newest fantasy novel. Sacrifices of schedule, going to mass instead of sleeping in, spending the time to pray in the evening instead of watching a movie. The little sacrifices of love for God can add up.
All of this love must be done with joy. Joy is being glad for all that is good. Joy in the Lord is important to have, even in the roughest of times. Maybe, you can't find enough food to feed your family. Maybe, money is low. Maybe, your being tormented by illness. Many of the saints went through suffering with great joy. Joy in the fact that all their suffering will be done for the greater good of God. So, this week, I want you to go out and love one another with joy. Have a good week!
Comments
Post a Comment