For no “great reason” I’ve been thinking over love, and being loved . . . so, putting fingers-to-keys, here’s a rumination-summary of sorts . . .
One of the great things about being a human is being loved by God. Our longings for, seeking after, enjoying and responding to love are the human norm; arising from being Divinely created. The common understanding of Christianity’s heart is God loves us. As an enduring childhood hymn goes ... “I am so glad that Jesus loves me ...” God is a lover, God loves me.”
Being loved calls for receiving, responsiveness, openness to the concerns, input and energy of another or others. Love is not merely the output of one to another, it is connection. It’s reciprocal ... or in plain language, “love is a two-way-street.”
God not only loves us, He has expectations of us loving Him. Not just as convenient; but our really loving Him as a life-priority. Think about it; maybe it’s a strange idea, but it’s certainly not new one.
One day back when Jesus first lived on this planet some theologians sent one of their brilliant students to pose him a “this-one-will-catch-you-out” question. Approaching Jesus he said; "Teacher, which command in God's principles is the most important?" Jesus’ clear, swift and friendly response was simply, “Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.” Adding, “This is the most important, the first on any list.”
God is not only the lover of humanity, but the creator of lovers; lovers of Him and fellow creatures. God’s “first-on-the-list” for lovers is to love Him with passion, with our soul-heart energy. Love with, and in, and through our prayers. To love through giving the growth of our intelligence to Him, the One we love. Simply, “love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.” We are lovers, we love God, but it doesn’t stop there.
Jesus continued; “but there is a second to set alongside it: Love others as well as you love yourself.” Yes Jesus, but how?
A practical definition of love is best summarised by St. Thomas Aquinas, who defined love as “to will the good of another,” or to desire for another to succeed. We are loved lovers who love. We need to love others, including enemies. As Aquinas explains, a “Jesus’ described love” is motivated by the need to see others succeed in life, to be good people, to love and be loved.
