“If you were to look up the word love in a dictionary, the first result you would see would probably be something like this: a great or strong feeling of affection. The most common way that we usually express our love to others is by saying or doing particular things in order to show that we care for them; we have many people that we care for, including family, friends, neighbors, or any people in general. We can use the word love in many things, can’t we? We can say that we love somebody very dearly, we can say that we love a specific thing, or we can say that we love doing a certain hobby or activity. How easy it is to say the word love! How easy it is to say love to another person! How easy it is to have a deep feeling for someone close to us! But is this “love” the love that the Lord our Father wants us to show to each other? To say the word love over and over again or to be kind to the people that we have a deep affection for? Most indeed, the Lord does want us to love those that we adore, but His complete explanation of love isn’t the interpretation that we seem to have so often. God’s meaning of love isn’t just to have a simple, heartwarming feeling for someone else, and it isn’t to only love those that we have compassion and empathy for. We as Christians, – the followers of God our Father – are called for our love to be much more prodigious than just what we think it is. The Lord wants us to show His love through our actions and to love each and every single person in the entire world with all of our heart.

God commands us to love others just how He has loved every person in the world. And because we are so loved by Him, we are called to spread the Word through loving each other and communicating our faith. Though this might sound easy and simple enough, this order is far from unchallenging. Can you love as much as God loves? He cares for everyone – the thieves, the wicked, the evil, and the condemned; He loves all of them. While we certainly cannot love others as much as the Lord loves them, still, we can actively love everyone by putting their needs before our own. Loving others is one of the most important commands that we have been given, for in John 13:34-35 Jesus says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Jesus tells us here that our actions reveal the truth of our beliefs and motivations, and he wants us to live our faith by loving everyone well. He also says that when we love as much as he has loved those everywhere in the world, we shall become a powerful witness for people to know that we are his disciples and truly children of God; we become witnesses for the kingdom; we become witnesses of seeing the Lord’s love for others. Without love, we would be lost in the shadows of darkness and consumed by our sins. But God sent us the Holy Spirit, His power, and His Son in order for us to have His love within us. We should show that love to others, for love comes from the greatest and most compassionate Father of all. Do you know where it comes from?

Love comes from God.”

~ Morgan Lee