Inspired by John
15:9-17
“This is my
commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” John 15:12
Countless couples choose this verse to be read at their
weddings, appreciating the focus on love and feeling that it is appropriate for
this most romantic of days.
But this verse is not about romantic love; it is about
sacrificial love of the highest order.
In the very next verse Jesus explains that such love involves laying
down one’s own life for another, just as he is about to lay down his life for
the salvation of the world. For while
love can result in warm feelings, contentment, and desire, love is not a
feeling but an action. And even in the
absence of those warm feelings love remains, and the one who loves must still
be willing to sacrifice him- or herself for the sake of the one who is loved.
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or
boastful or arrogant or rude. It does
not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not
rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. People are not
capable of such a love on their own; people want what they want when they want
it. People want their own way, and
frequently walk away from a relationship when the warm feelings, contentment,
and desire fade. Relationships are
messy. But Jesus commands us to love one
another as he has loved us. We
have seen such love; we are the beneficiaries of such love. And when we truly understand that such love
is possible with the help of God, couples can do worse than to base their
marriage on this commandment.
Let us pray. God of
love, you commanded us to love one another as you loved us. Give us the strength to be so loving, that
others may continue to grow and live in your divine grace. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.
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