Love changes things……more on love! My previous post was about how love can move mountains. In it I talked about what relational love and acknowledgment of God’s love can do for our souls. However, I failed to mention how love of neighbor, the topic of today’s Gospel, can change the world. In fact, one thing (love of God) leads to the other (love of neighbor).
I want to share a meditation I read today in The Word Among Us. It sums up today’s Gospel perfectly.
Meditation of Matthew 22:34-40
Songwriters have long proclaimed that what the world needs is love. But that lofty sentiment is a little vague on what love looks like or what it means to love someone. By contrast, Jesus had the weight of a thousand-plus years of revelation from God backing him up when he told some Pharisees that the greatest commandments are to love God and love your neighbor. The commandments themselves explain what love is and what it looks like.
So what does love look like? Here is one way to approach it.
Look at how God loves. He delivered the Israelites out of Egypt, and delivers each one of us out of the grip of our enemies -enemies like the pain of failed or abusive relationships, physical or emotional suffering, bitterness and resentment.
But how do we love God? By proclaiming that he – not forms of escape like alcohol, drugs, or pornography – is strong enough to deliver and restore us. We love him as we trust that God is just as willing to bring us out of patterns of sin or indifference as he was to bring the chosen people out of Egypt.
Let the knowledge of this love fill your heart. Let it move you to tell him about your love in return. Set aside the phone, computer, laundry or bills to pray and give thanks for all the ways God has shown his love to you. As you praise him for his kindness and goodness, you are opening yourself to receive even more of his love.
And how do we love our neighbors? As God’s love fills us, it will also flow out of us. It will expand our hearts and increase our capacity to love more humbly and more fully.
More than just performing acts of service, you love your neighbors by honoring and respecting them. You love by restraining angry words or lustful and insulting thoughts. You look at people the way God sees them, with the same love that he showers on you.
Yes, the world does need love, and God has shown us what it looks like. So receive that love as often as you can – and give it away even more!
“Jesus, teach me how to love!”
Just imagine how the current state of the world would change if we truly loved our neighbors as Jesus commanded. Love changes things. God bless you!
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