Thursday, December 29, 2011

 

There have been very few men or women I have met who make the effort to "walk in the light."  Surely the majority of believers struggle to live a life that is motivated by the light of Christ Jesus and the Commandments. Jesus taught throughout his public life that a first priority in following him is to love God and one another.

To love God is much more than an intellectual exercise.  To study God is a process of learning about God and his presence in the world.  So how do we come to "love God."  Perhaps it is easy to say "Of course I love God.  That's why I go to church."  But we can always ask ourselves it is truly love that is the fiber our our relationship with God.  Consider for a moment:  how does a child come to know the love of a parent?  Isn't it the acts of a parent for the child?  And doesn't the child in mind and heart learn what love is as the years pass?  A deeper awareness of the sacrifices that a parent makes for the child brings about an awareness of what true love is or should be.  Countless moments of caring, nurturing, protecting, guiding are a parent's gift to his/her child.  It is these instances that are the teaching moments of what true love is.  Hopefully the maturing child comes to recognize that genuine love is so often more experienced in the giving than in the receiving.

As we grow older, we must rely on our own experiences of the loves others have given to us to be able to be open to God's love for us.  For us today:  do I allow my heart to be open to the many ways that God teaches us about his bountiful love?