Loving For the Sake of Love

Wouldn't it be nice if we cared for everyone the way we do our children? We all give our children unconditional love; it is natural to do so. Why can't we give our mates, our siblings, our parents the same? Why can't we feel like this toward everyone? Unconditional love means that you may not like what someone does, but you love them anyway.

If you don't know what this feeling truly is read what St. Paul has to say about it in 1 Corinthians 13. If everyone cared for their spouse in this manner divorce would be rare because forgiveness would be natural. If everyone cared for their parents and siblings in this manner there would be no split families because there would never be hurt feelings. If we all felt like this toward everyone else there would be no fighting or wars.

This is what I call loving for the sake of love. You love because that is all you can do. We all make mistakes, we all sin. We all do hurtful things, and we all say things we don't really mean. We all do these things, but God still loves us. We need to strive to be more like God and love everyone regardless of their short comings. The only way we can accomplish this is by shrinking our egos, and our feelings of importance.

Jesus said "Love God, love yourself, and love your neighbor." This is very important, not only what he said, but the order in which he said it. To fill yourself with love you must first learn to love God, then you must learn how to love yourself. Only after you have accomplished the first two, will you be able to give love to others.

Try to find a few minutes each day to connect with God. Sit quietly and fill yourself with positive feelings; you can do this by thinking about someone you truly love. This person can be Jesus, your spouse, your child, your pet, anyone that inspires this for you. Gently sing HU as your song of love to God. This highly charged spiritual word will help open your heart to receive God's love. Over time you will fill your heart and yourself with love. You will love everyone simply for the sake of love. You will become a shining beacon of love showing others the way.

1 Corinthian 13