Love protects us

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

EVER wondered why some crazy thoughts would just enter our mind and it would just be a matter of time before we fall into sin? And this despite our desire to be good?

The quick answer to that question is because we are not truly in love. Instead of thinking of the others, of what good we can do for the others, first with God and then with everybody else, we would just be thinking of ourselves, or worse, thinking of nothing and just allowing ourselves to drift wherever the condition of our body and the things around us would bring us.

We really should learn how to love all the time, because without it, we would just be giving an opening to our weaknesses and the many temptations around to dominate us. What is worse is when these weaknesses and temptations have already made a foothold in our system because we are doing nothing with respect to loving which is what is proper to us.

When we notice that we are feeling dry and passive, it is a sure sign that we are not in love. Of course, there are also times when we feel hot and driven but still not in love, that is, true love, because what stir our passions are our egoistic urges. It’s not genuine love. It’s fake love.

When we are truly in love, we would always be thinking of the others, of what good we can do for them. We would be willing to serve them, to understand them and to forgive them whenever some mistakes are committed.

We need to look closely at the example of Christ who is the very personification of love and who, by the way, is the pattern of our humanity. We are supposed to be like him since we have been created in God’s image and likeness, and endowed with the proper powers, like our intelligence and will, plus God’s grace in the first place, so that we can enter into nothing less than a true communion with God and with the others. That’s how true love works.

Christ precisely was always thinking of all of us, telling us how to distinguish between good and evil, truth and falsehood. He did a lot of good to others, performing some miraculous healings. Ultimately, he bore all our sins by offering his life. And as the gospel tells us, there is no greater love than he offers his life for his friends. (cfr. Jn 15,13)

This is how we should train ourselves in loving. It will take time and effort, but we are assured already that we can have it as long as we stick and cling to Christ no matter what happens along the way. This way, we would be protected from our own weaknesses and the many temptations around.

And when can we say that we are truly in love with the love of God for us? I guess the answer can be derived from what Christ himself told us clearly.

And that’s nothing other than when we can manage, with God’s grace, to love not only our neighbor, but also our enemy. Of course, it is loving with the love of God as shown to us by Christ himself who bore all our sins by offering his life on the cross.

Yes, let’s train ourselves to be truly in love, thinking of God and of everybody else, thinking of what good we can do for them, which in the end is a matter of giving our whole selves, including our very own life, to God and to everybody!

            Email: roycimagala@gmail.com