7th Sunday of Easter
For the seventh Sunday of Easter, the second reading will be from 1 Jn 4:7-10.
So, we’ve been hitting John’s first epistle really hard this Easter season, and he wrote extensively in this letter about love. So far, since Easter, we’ve talked about:
- What it looks like when we love God back,
- how obedience of the laws of God factor into our relationship with him,
- how incredible is God’s love for us,
- the necessity of our act of trust in the context of our loving relationship with God,
- and the necessity of loving those who are not in Christ.
He's spent all this time on it. So… Why is love so important?
There is rather a lot one could say on that subject:
Love is important because out of love, God created you, allowing that you will not be what he hoped (that is, unfallen). Out of love, Jesus came into the world to save you from your sinful, fallen state. Out of love, when Jesus went ahead to advocate for you at the right hand of God, he sent the Holy Spirit to be your helper and guide along the way.
At the risk of sounding melodramatic, you would be doomed to experience God’s justice, if it were not for his love.
This being the case, it is not only important that we have the theological virtue of faith (that which allows us to believe the things revealed by God in a factual sense), but also hope in him for salvation, and love him in return and love others on his behalf.
Faith, without works, is dead. Love is that which brings our faith to its intended fullness and crowns our faith with action.
Let’s pray:
Loving and Merciful Father,
Thank you for loving us in spite of all we do that makes us unworthy of your love. By your mercy increase your love in us, both for you, and for those you put in our lives.
Make us perfect in love that we might be your hands in the world, and love everyone we meet in just the way that you do.
Amen
PS: There are some popular misconceptions about Love. I'll talk about them next week.
No comments:
Post a Comment