Love

“Love one another as I have loved you” is the greatest commandment of God. God Himself showed His unconditional love by sending His only Son to die for us – while we were still sinners. No one will ever be capable of such an action.

Many of us, I believe, at one point or another, have nurtured a feeling of hatred towards another, be they our parents, brothers, sisters or friends. However, feelings are something normal because of our human nature. Strangely enough, we often come across God’s teachings to love, not to hate.

Many times too, God was angry with His people, but that anger never graduated to hatred. His commandment has always been to love, and thus, He is asking us to do the same.

So what is this “love”? The Oxford’s Dictionary defines love as a warm liking or affection for something or someone. This is a very general meaning because love cannot be described in words but by actions. Personally, I think there are two kinds of love – conditional and unconditional love.

Conditional love is when we put conditions on our feelings. For example, we love a person because he/she is rich or beautiful/handsome, or even because they can be of use to us, and they also can be at our disposal. This kind of love is relatively not good because we would be abusing love to use it for our own good. We should not love a person because of his/her possessions, or outward appearance, or because he/she can provide us with the things we need.

We should instead love a person for what or who he/she is. This is unconditional love. Many people in this world are in dire need of another’s love and affection. Unwanted babies and children, orphans, the elderly and the sick, and especially the outcasts are the people who really need love, because modern society totally detests them.

However, we need not go to the extreme. We can always show our unconditional love to the people around us, especially those whom we hold dear. More often than not, it is the people closest to us whom we find difficult to love. There are times when it hurts to love, especially when our love is not appreciated. However, whether it is appreciated or not, we must try our best to love them.

Our expression of love does not have to be anything big. Simple things like calling them up once in a while, sending them cards, e-mails, SMSs, remembering their birthdays and so on are simple and sincere gestures that can be used to express our unconditional love. It is to those whom we dislike that we must show our love, and especially if he/she is our brother/sister in Christ.

If we cannot love our brother/sister in Christ, how can we love God? Anyone who says he/she loves God but hates his/her friends or brothers/sisters is a liar! If we cannot love someone who we can see, how can we claim to love someone whom we cannot see?

I think it is time for us to start loving one anther, because by doing so, we can truly make this world a better place to live in. If we do not start now, we might never have the chance to do it anymore. Instead we will end up regretting our actions for the rest of our lives.

“We can always give without loving, but we can never LOVE without giving”