Oh How He loves. God loves us more than we can ever imagine.
We may be told this often but we may not experience it very often. But the
truth is no one is special. He loves us all the same. You might be saying to yourself “Well that
sucks.” But I tell you it doesn’t. He
loves us far more than any person could ever love us. He has given us
everything and even himself for us. And as my friend Barb would say “He would
have died for you if you were the only person.”
God Loves Us.
I could go on about how He loves us. I might even be able to
write books about it and I think you might be able to do the same. Now the real
question is how do we love him. For most of us I believe the answer might be in
whatever way is easiest for us: showing up the say “Hi” once a week at mass,
giving a dollar here or there, being nice to others, maybe wearing a cross, or
some act of service. I doubt all of us don’t do all these things nor should we.
My point is we often do what we want to do and then say it is for God. I know
that I will often wake up late skip breakfast and not have time to pack a lunch
and then all it fasting. Maybe you donate something I am trying to get rid of,
or go to mass because we know there is a pancake breakfast this weekend. We are
often selfish in our relationship with God.
There is a book that has been out for some time about five
love languages. I am not going to
recommend the book because I have not read it
nor does this psychologist have plans to read it. Anyway the author suggests
these five ways to loves your spouse: gifts, quality time, words of
affirmation, acts of service, and physical touch. We often tend to love our
spouses in the way we want to be loved and then get disappointed when our
spouse does not want to be loved that way. Is it really love if we just do what
we like and not think about what the other person wants from us? This is a frequent
theme in marriage therapy. We need to
learn to love others by loving them how they want to be loved.
So how does God want to be loved? I think it is different
for each of us. But I am pretty sure it is not what is easiest for us. I don’t
think anyone has it easy when it comes to building a relationship that lasts
and the same goes for our relationship with God. If we only spend an hour a
week with Him, give him canned spinach when he asks for food, or only talk to
him when we really need help what kind of relationship are we building? I know
I wouldn’t want to be your friend. He wants all of our being, not just what we
can spare. We need to continually ask the question, Lord what is your will for
me? And that takes prayer. Daily prayer.
And not just rattling off a few lines,
but quieting our heart and listening.
Lord what is your will for me this day? How can a better
serve you and your people? Please guide me.
Prayer is not easy. It takes time. Lots of time. Start today.
Start Now. Stop what you are doing and take time to pray.
