I Am Defined By Love

                                                                              

My commandment is this:

Love one another, just as I love you.

~ John 15: 12

At the last supper Jesus Christ summed up his moral teaching in a single but very powerful phrase,

“This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you.”

Christianity more than any other religion is rooted and defined by this singular commandment from our Lord Jesus Christ and therefore completely revolutionized our relationship with God and with one another to the extent that failure to even pray for those perceived as “enemies” is considered unchristian in practice and in faith.

On what basis am I supposed to be define a Christian that is a follower of Jesus Christ or just for the sake of argument, unchristian human being that have conscience and endowed with the ability to love?

Rather than define love based on dictionary criteria, I will rather we see the application of love in order to help us have a clear and articulate meaning of what the implications of loving a fellow mankind or otherwise.

Apostle Paul addressed the Galatians about the necessity for children of God to live by the Spirit as opposed to living by the flesh and in some cases the law (since the law that does not come from God are man-made and therefore cannot satisfy God). According to Paul, if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law. On the contrary, if you are living based on the flesh, then definitely the Spirit is not at work in you and consequently, the characteristics that you exhibits are contrary to love.

The works of the Flesh

The man who live according to the law of the flesh or lack the kind of love that Jesus Christ challenges us to exercise have the works of the flesh as the characteristics of his life and these features are: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies and the like.

The kind of lifestyle can never help the individual to love and because of his inability to love, he cannot inherit the kingdom of God! We must never forget that God is love and love is God and without love, God can never find his abode within us.

The fruits of the Spirit

Now that we have seen the features of the life of the flesh or one which does not put into consideration the need for God and by implication love, let us follow the apostle Paul admonition to the Galatians as he explained the opposite of the work of the flesh.

According to Paul, in contrast to the works of the flesh, the fruits of the Spirit are: love, joy, peace, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Life in Christ Jesus

If you believe you are living in Christ Jesus, then you are no longer under the law and all your actions are motivated by faith working through love and nothing else. The visible sign of living in Christ Jesus is living in love, with love and through love and that means allowing your life to mirror the fruits of the Spirit.

There is no law against the fruits of the Spirit, unlike the works of the flesh, meaning if you are in Christ, you live in such a way that the law of man can never find you guilty, since your lifestyle is no longer under the law of the flesh.

As you live in Christ Jesus, you will not desire to hate others, since hatred, the opposite of love is the root of so many evils in our societies such as envy, murder cheating, bearing false witness against others and so on and so forth.

Moreover, a life in Christ Jesus is one lived in love manifested in generosity, selflessness, honesty, kindness, gentleness and faithfulness, among the like.

If God is in you, love will definitely reside in you, and where love is found, goodness and humanity dwell too, and as a result, you will desire to love others as yourself for the sake of the love of God that you already found.

From a practical perspective, in our contemporary society, living and bearing the fruit of the Spirit can be found in common examples such as praying for those who persecute us and at times perceived as enemies, helping people that are of different faith or religion, giving a serving hand to the poor and all those who need our assistance and going out of our way to bring relief to those in distress and love the folks that are rejected, denigrated and condemned in our society as a result of their divergent views in life.

Just like Jesus Christ, as Christian, we must love people such as those whose sexual orientations are different from our traditional understanding of a man and woman relationship, without becoming one. In addition, we must love and support Muslims, people of different ethnicity, cultures and religion,  and those that are differently able, the mentally challenged, prisoners, drug addicts, social and society outcast and guess what, we must also love those we considered to be racists. This kind of power can never emanate from our own effort without relying on the grace of the almighty God and that is why we need Jesus Christ in our lives to help us become like him.

Love is all

Our actions, thoughts and words must be motivated and influenced by nothing short of love for God and therefore love for mankind.

It was love that made Jesus Christ to humiliate himself and accept death, even death on the cross in order that we may gain eternal life in the Kingdom of his heavenly Father.

It was love that made Jesus Christ to perform his first miracle at the wedding in Cana.

It was love that made Jesus Christ to forgive the woman caught in the act of adultery

It was love that made Jesus Christ to raise Lazarus from the dead.

It was love that made Jesus Christ to offer his Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist

It was love that made Jesus Christ to send us the Holy Spirit

It was love that made Jesus Christ to promise that he shall never leave us

If love makes Jesus Christ to perform all these sacrifices for us, what is then our role in life?

In a nutshell, our role in life is to carry out the commandment of God which Jesus Christ gave to us and that is we should love God above all and love one another as ourselves.

A true Christian therefore is the one that live his life in love, through love and with love, and because God is love and love is God, such a person will definitely be living in God and God in him!

Prayer:

Dear heavenly Father,

I am grateful to you for always hearing my petitions and other supplication made to you in thanksgiving for your infinite love, mercy and goodness to me.

Today, I seek your help in carrying out the commandment that Jesus Christ your only begotten Son has given to me at the last supper.

Please kindly grant me your grace to live a life that will be define by nothing else but love.

Let love guide all my actions, words and thoughts.

Let love enables me to pray for all mankind.

Let love train my heart to see you in all mankind.

Let your love strengthen my heart to keep my hope, faith and love alive.

Let your love permeate my heart in such a way that all I desire will be to please you and nothing else

Let your love transform my sorrows, sufferings and pains into your glory.

Let your love help me to focus on you rather than my challenges and difficulties in life.

Let your love heal broken marriages and other unions, so that your holy name will be gloried.

Let your love grant healings of body, soul and mind to humanity.

Let your love stop the useless wars in our lives.

Let your love comfort us in distress

Let your love build our homes

Let your love gives us wisdom, knowledge and understanding

Let your love manifest Jesus Christ in our lives

Let your love grant us Jesus Christ favors

Let your love give us the Holy Spirit today.

Thank you, O Lord my God for all the love you have continued to shower on us through your mercy, compassion and divine providence.

In Jesus Christ mighty name, we rely and hope in your love and nothing else. Amen!

Ref: Galatians 5, John 15

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