Showing posts with label love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label love. Show all posts
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Genesis Ministries
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So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma. Ephesians 5:2
The bread that I give is my flesh for the life of the world. John 6:51
Live in love... The word "love" has been so abused over the years, this simple instruction becomes more confusing. What is it to live in love? As we continue to meditate on the image of bread, Jesus gives us an even stronger image of what it means to love. His love is to give up his flesh, so that we may live and have hope of reconciliation with God. If we are to imitate God's love, then love is no less than sacrifice. Love is living in the Truth of God. Love is not just butterflies and rainbows and the happy thought that everyone is okay.
I once heard a priest brilliantly define an issue that plagues our current culture. He said that we all go around afraid to speak out, because we are taught that we're all okay - "I'm okay, you're okay." The truth, if we are to live as authentically in Christ as we can, is quite the opposite. We are none of us "okay" - we are all plagued by something, but Jesus, the Bread of Life, offers his flesh as food for healing. So it is more accurate to say, "I'm not okay, but in You I am made well, Lord."
If we are to truly live in love, we must be willing to live in the truth that each of us is somehow suffering. Out of love, we must lead each other to the only one who can make us "okay," to the Divine Healer, to the Bread of Life who came that we too may live.
Do we humble ourselves before Christ to admit our failings and allow Him to heal us through Reconciliation and the Eucharist? If we do not, pray this weekend that the Holy Spirit may reveal and heal what it is that keeps us away from the new life we are promised.
The bread that I give is my flesh for the life of the world. John 6:51
Live in love... The word "love" has been so abused over the years, this simple instruction becomes more confusing. What is it to live in love? As we continue to meditate on the image of bread, Jesus gives us an even stronger image of what it means to love. His love is to give up his flesh, so that we may live and have hope of reconciliation with God. If we are to imitate God's love, then love is no less than sacrifice. Love is living in the Truth of God. Love is not just butterflies and rainbows and the happy thought that everyone is okay.
I once heard a priest brilliantly define an issue that plagues our current culture. He said that we all go around afraid to speak out, because we are taught that we're all okay - "I'm okay, you're okay." The truth, if we are to live as authentically in Christ as we can, is quite the opposite. We are none of us "okay" - we are all plagued by something, but Jesus, the Bread of Life, offers his flesh as food for healing. So it is more accurate to say, "I'm not okay, but in You I am made well, Lord."
If we are to truly live in love, we must be willing to live in the truth that each of us is somehow suffering. Out of love, we must lead each other to the only one who can make us "okay," to the Divine Healer, to the Bread of Life who came that we too may live.
Do we humble ourselves before Christ to admit our failings and allow Him to heal us through Reconciliation and the Eucharist? If we do not, pray this weekend that the Holy Spirit may reveal and heal what it is that keeps us away from the new life we are promised.
Come Lord Jesus!
Posted by
Genesis Ministries
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For you are a people holy to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on earth to be his people, his treasured possession. Deuteronomy 7:6
Deuteronomy goes on to say that it is not for any reason due to us that the Lord has chosen us, but rather, out of his love and fidelity to the promises he has made. God chooses us, even in our imperfect state, he chooses us out of love. Each day, by our words and our actions, we have the chance to make choices, to choose to act in a way that shows our love for God. We can choose to react in anger, or choose to forgive. We can choose to gossip or spread rumors, or we can choose to remain silent or defend someone's honor. We can choose to be prideful, or we can choose to humbly realize God as the source of our goodness. We can choose to think we have it all under control, or we can choose to acknowledge that the only control we have is to give it all to God. We can choose to think our little actions don't matter, or we can choose to admit that every breath and movement shows some element of our character. So choose wisely...
As we go about our daily lives, do our choices reflect a love for God, a submission to his will for us, acknowledgment of the sacrifice Christ made? In short, do we choose God?
As we go about our daily lives, do our choices reflect a love for God, a submission to his will for us, acknowledgment of the sacrifice Christ made? In short, do we choose God?
