Fountain of Love
Mark 12:30-31 “‘And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Of late I have been contemplating the depth and earnestness of my love for Christ. Do I truly love Him with all of my heart… with all of my soul… with all of my mind… with all of my strength? Am I filled with a love for Him that captures my every thought?
I then consider how this internal fountain of love for the Lord can not only flow upwards towards heaven, but outwards to all those around me. Can I touch their hearts with love before they’ve ever done something kind for me? Can I show love to someone who will not to return the favor? Can this fountain of love spill over the borders and help those near and far? Can I find a way to break the cycle of unkindness with someone by showing them an act of love?
Christ broke the cycle of unkindness that I showed towards Him by loving me first. Despite my hateful, atheistic views towards Him in the past, He turned the other cheek and showed me compassion, patience, and mercy. Despite my willful refusal to let Him in my life in the past, He kept lovingly calling to me to open the door. I then consider how I can replicate His model of love towards me by showing mercy, compassion, patience, and love towards others.
“Another day when I was upset because certain people didn’t respond to me with love, the Elder [Porphyrios] said, ‘Today, people ask to be loved and that is why they are disappointed. The right thing to do is not to care whether they love you or not at all, but rather, whether you love Christ and other people.’” 1
I recently went for a swim in the Pacific ocean and left my towel on the beach chair next to a woman watching the sunrise. After my swim, we struck up a conversation about the sunrise, the beautiful landscape, her struggle with cancer, her faith in God, her healing from cancer, and her handling of people who didn’t love her. Her husband of 15 years walked in one day announcing it was time for a divorce. He was taking all of the assets that were due him, and he was leaving God, her, and the kids behind. They sold everything and divided up the assets. Her family encouraged her not to give him the money as he was going to squander it. But she wrote a six figure check and said that “this is God’s money”. She knew that it was an offering to God and she lifted up her ex-husband in prayer for years. He lived the prodigal life and squandered everything, but she still showed love and kindness to him whenever he came around to see the kids. After years of praying and years of showing unreturned love, his heart was broken. He returned to her a repentant man, a man begging for forgiveness, and a man who had given his heart and soul to God. They are now happily remarried and were celebrating their 30th anniversary.
This woman placed her faith in God and continued in steadfast love towards Him even when her whole world was turned upside down. She loved her ex-husband when he did not love her. She prayed for him when he did not pray for her. She showed the love of God to others even when they didn’t show it to her.
Constantine, Y. (2013). With Elder Porphyrios: a spiritual child remembers. Transfiguration of the Savior.