Loving God, loving others, loving me…
I have taken inspiration from the verse:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength…sounds like such a tall order! And I guess that’s because it is! If I look at my daily life, it does not always read as one of someone who loves God with all their heart, soul and strength That means always putting God first, or as St. Benedict puts it, “preferring none to Christ”. Loving God this way means putting Him first, and my own selfish desires second. It means seeking His will in all I do, think and say. It means laying aside self for His greater glory. I can do none of this without the help of the Holy Spirit, and my prayer is that I will learn, day by day, to allow the Spirit to take control of my life ~ thoughts, emotions, desires, deeds, intentions ~ gradually increasing my love for Jesus each day, until He is more and I am less.
Love your neighbour…and who is my neighbour? The parable of the Good Samaritan tells me that my neighbour is everyone I meet. Muslim, Jew, Hindu, atheist; black, white and every shade in between; straight or gay; male or female; rich or poor. All are my neighbour, and Jesus calls me to love, without judgement, without reservation. Again, I need the Holy Spirit’s help to do this. I don’t have that kind of love in me, in fact sometimes it feels as if my circle of love is tiny, reaching out only to those closest to me. God would want me to expand that circle, and to encompass more in His love.
As yourself…so finally, that leaves me. Jesus has called me to love myself! That means respecting myself, emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually. Looking after myself, nurturing myself, all are important, for if I don’t love myself, how can I hope to love anyone else? Maybe this is the point at which I need the Holy Spirit’s help the most in order to replace unhealthy self-interest with healthy self-love.
So these are the areas I wish to explore through this blog. The opportunities God presents to me, and challenges me with, everyday, to love Him, others and myself. I hope that in some small way my journey of discovery can help you, too…
Posted by teachermum on October 14, 2006 at 11:58 am
This is exactly what I believe and seek for. Another thank-you.
One of my biggest jpourneys of the last couple of years is to learn to love myself – and that that is vital. I do love myself more now – and I find I love God and others more too!
Posted by autumnrose on October 14, 2006 at 4:33 pm
This is what it says in my Catechism Handbook:
“In this life, your love for God is bound together with your love of others ~ and these loves are bound together with your love of self…when it comes to practical, real-life terms, fulfillment of God’s commandment to love begins with a proper self-love. In order to love God as He wills, you need to respect, esteem and reverence yourself.
You increase your love of self by allowing yourself to realise, gradually and more deeply as the years go on, that God really loves you with a love that has no end. You are loved and you are loveable. Whenever you try to aquire or deepen this attitude about yourself, you are co-operating with the Grace of God.”
How beautiful are those words! How happy I am to have discovered Catholicism in the autumn of my life!
Posted by Anna on May 19, 2008 at 8:42 pm
This is wonderfully written, AR, and such a beautiful take on life!