1 John 4:7-10
Psalm 72:1-4, 7-8
Mark 6:34-44
God is love. There is nothing we can do that is so divine as to love. No physical achievement nor any intellectual accomplishment compares to love. A human being should not be valued by what they can do nor by how intelligent they are, but by how much love they have. Indeed, since love is this: not that we love God but that he loves us, a human ought to be valued according to how much God loves them.
Every person is loveable. This is proven because God loves them, no matter how young or old, whether weak or disabled. That is the truth, and we live the truth inasmuch as we love these loveable people. We live a lie when we do not love them even though they are loveable. Sin is a lie. In order to sin, we must pretend that someone is not loveable. If we spent our whole lives in love with everyone and above all in love with God, we would never sin. God created us to be in love. That is the natural state of a human being.
The world loves love. The world is filled with love stories and love songs. The story of Piramus and Thisbe whispering their love for each other is very ancient, and how many other love stories and love songs have been forgotten? So why is there any conflict between God and the world? If God is love and the world loves love, why does the world not love God and every person he loves? If the commandment of God were to stop loving, then the world could say that love is too important. But instead God tells the world to increase its love.
We are afraid to love so much because to love everyone, all the time, would be exhausting. It is more than we can accomplish. But this is love: not that we have loved but that he has loved us. The love comes from him. Even when we love someone else, we are simply letting some of God’s love for them flow through us. What a privilege that he allows us to participate in his love! We become divine as we let love flow freely through us to others. We must not be afraid of the burden of loving others. It only seems like a burden while we fight it. God is the love with which we love if we let him love through us.
