"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another" (John 13:34).
On the eve of the terrible crisis of the cross, Jesus gathers His followers around Him to teach them the last lesson on love. On this night, he gave them his last will. Jesus sums up all Christian teachings in a couple of short, simple sentences: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”
His great love, concern and compassion compels Him to go even further and show His disciples the way of love through dying for us on the cross; the ultimate way of love. At the end of the day, when all the doctrine has been debated, when all the traditions have been lived out, when all the hymns have been sung and the liturgy celebrated, we are left with just one thing: love. It’s all about love in the final analysis, love is all that is important.
Love is the greatest power that can change the world, it is only through this message that we can have world peace. The entire message of Christianity is encapsulated in this one Word: “LOVE”. The discovery of Love and the actions of Love opens up our eyes to see Jesus, to hear Jesus and to touch Jesus. But the action of hate causes us to be blind to Jesus, deaf to Jesus and out of touch with Jesus. Love puts us in the light while hate traps us in darkness.
The world is full of hurting people, who are desperately looking for somebody to love them. This is why God told us to love all man regardless of their color, gender, age. When you love other people you have covered multitudes of sins.
Christian maturity is measured by the love of God that you express to others. God loves the whole world, He desires to save and help all man. To be identified with Him means to love what He loves and to desire what He desires. Each one of us is called to a life of love, and care and compassion; in other words, we are called to support, encourage and help those who are feeling frail and vulnerable and to stand with others in their pain.
Love is a responsibility and an effort towards another person. Love will always cost you something, there is always a sacrifice. Anybody can say I love you but if their actions don’t show it, then they are lying. Love is seen through the things you do, this is why the Bible says God so loved the world and gave his only son (John 3:16). His love was proved by his action. Christ is the model for us to follow and we have a lifetime to work out what that means for ourselves. Every day we have opportunities to set aside our own comfort and love our family, friends and neighbors through sacrificially meeting their real needs. Through living in love we are able to reflect to others that we are God’s children. That is the life we are called to.
It is not easy – but love must be the hallmark of our own lives. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians, if we don’t have love, we are nothing, our worship is empty, our hymn singing is empty, and all the activities of the church are empty and meaningless. It’s all about love, the CARITAS form of Love--God's Love.
