THURSDAY OF THE FIFTH WEEK OF EASTER
Love one another as I love you. (John 15:12)
We have heard this Scripture verse so many times, and these words seem so simple and easy to follow. The Lord gives us one command: love others. I could spend an hour in confession telling you all the ways I failed in this over the last several weeks. It is not that I want to disobey God's one request. I wake up every morning with every desire and intention to love others. And then, barely out of bed, I trip on a pair of my husband's shoes on the way to the exercise bike, or I read a ridiculous post on FB, and my charity goes right out the window. I keep falling and getting back up. Why couldn't Jesus give us a more effortless command? Well, I think it's because He wants us to get back up. Most of us don't want to disappoint the Lord, but every sin we commit comes back to this one thing the Lord desires of us. Love. Have you ever noticed how easy it is to make a sacrifice for someone you love? Love makes sacrifice easy. It makes us bold. It makes us courageous. It turns ordinary people into heroes, and it turns sinners into saints. When we chose to offer someone love over judgment, anger, hate, disagreements, indifference, we take another step towards being saints. When I was a youth minister, I remember more than once teaching a young follower about loving someone they struggled to get along with; act with love, I would tell them. We don't always have feelings of love toward someone. Even in our closest relationships, occasionally, the emotions of love might be lacking. Love is not an emotion or a feeling; it is a choice. When we chose to act with love, our hearts and minds will follow.