Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with your whole heart, and with your whole being, and with your whole strength. Take to heart these words which I command you today. Keep repeating them to your children. Recite them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them on your arm as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Do I love God beyond all else?
This has been a life-long question/challenge for me. And it's not something I like to admit. Sure, I love God, but is it the way He commanded us to love him? As a teen, I even penned a cringe-worthy poem about it. It read in part something akin to, "Ya know you gotta love with all you got, or you won't find your place in heaven child."
Is it that we love the gifts and forget the giver?
I once remarked to a friend how the intensity of my love for my children almost seemed sinful sometimes. My friend, a fellow mom seemed to have no trouble understanding where I was coming from, however, another friend overheard my comment and protested sharply. How could loving someone, especially a child, be sinful? I explained to him (a single male), that the love for my family was so strong that it made me wonder how my love for anyone else including God could surpass it. It troubled me deeply, because I wanted to love God more, but how?
Is it that we love the gifts and forget the giver?
I once remarked to a friend how the intensity of my love for my children almost seemed sinful sometimes. My friend, a fellow mom seemed to have no trouble understanding where I was coming from, however, another friend overheard my comment and protested sharply. How could loving someone, especially a child, be sinful? I explained to him (a single male), that the love for my family was so strong that it made me wonder how my love for anyone else including God could surpass it. It troubled me deeply, because I wanted to love God more, but how?
Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him,“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40I was thinking about this problem again recently and realized how much my love for God has grown since my earlier parenting days. What had transpired over the years to bring me to this greater sense of love? One afternoon, I turned on EWTN to see and hear this AWESOME reflection by the late Father Leo Clifford, OFM, who hits the nail on the head:
How do I love God profoundly, above and beyond the gifts He has given me? By knowing I cannot love him with my own fickle, "puny love," but rather with His own Love! That supernatural Love that He has given me through the Holy Spirit. It is that Love that I breathe in, soak up and give back to the Father in deep gratitude for everything.
It is that same supernatural Love that makes it possible to love my neighbor. And myself, especially when the very thought seems impossible.
Thank you, Jesus, for loving me and for giving me the grace to Love you.
I know exactly how you feel and I too question how I love God compared to the love I have for my children. As I have aged and think back about the way God has cared and loved me through the years it blows me away. There have been all kinds of trials in my life and I always ran to God. Sometimes I didn't get immediate answers because God had a plan, but in the end the cloud went away and I could see "God's way" more clearly. Love and trust is the answer.
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