As human beings, we need love to grow and thrive. From early on we learn from our families that we need other people to give our hearts to. We discover the comfort and elation that come from letting our guard down and sharing our deepest self with another.
As we grow into adulthood, we also find it within ourselves not only to love our family and friends but to show kindness even to strangers. When we help a person in need, especially when they are unable to pay us back, we discover the satisfaction that comes with giving of ourselves.
So when Jesus commands us to love our neighbor, any decent person cannot help but agree and appreciate the wisdom of His words.
But what about the love of God? Because He is not a part of our world and daily experience, the idea that we should love God is not as obvious to us. How do we love a God we cannot see, hear or touch?
Jesus gives us a hint in today’s gospel. By linking the command to love God with the command to love our neighbor, He teaches us that precisely by loving others we show our love for God.
This is a teaching which we find throughout the Bible. Saint John tells us in his letters that anyone who claims to walk in the light while hating his brothers and sisters is a liar. Saint James asks how it is possible to love the God we cannot see when we neglect our neighbor whom we do see. Finally, Jesus tells us that whatever we do to the least of our brothers and sisters, we do to Him.
Why this connection between love of God and love of neighbor? It is simply because we are all created in the image and likeness of God. Each one of us reflects His beauty and goodness. When I hate, despise or offend another human being, I am rejecting the image and likeness of God which he or she reflects and, therefore, am rejecting and offending God Himself.
There is another truth connected to this which we must be aware of. Our love for God is not measured by the person we love the most. Rather, it is measured by the one we love the least. Think about the most obnoxious person you know. Think about the man or woman who has hurt you the most. Think about the one you find the least attractive. That person is the measure of your love for God.
That is why along with the command to love, Jesus gives us the command to forgive. We are also commanded to serve the poor and embrace the sinner. Our love for neighbor, therefore, is to have no boundaries. No one falls outside the commandment of love. God will accept no excuses if we fail to love any one of His children.
Now, what if the person we find hardest to love and forgive is ourselves?
Showing love to ourselves is another dimension of love for neighbor and, therefore, of love of God. In fact, psychologists tell us that love of self is crucial to love for others. Often we project on to others the dissatisfaction we feel about ourselves. We often punish others for the failures we see in ourselves. This is especially true about our relationship with family members. The better we feel about ourselves, the better we will treat others.
We show love for God, then, by accepting ourselves as God made us. That means accepting our limitations, the mistakes of our past, and the difficulties of our daily lives. When we are jealous of others’ talents or wish to have what they have, we are in essence saying to God that He made a mistake in creating us. We are rejecting the unique gift that He made us to be. When we feel that way - when we feel as though we are somehow inferior to others - it is good to remind ourselves that we were created by God in His image and likeness just as everyone else was, and that we are beloved by Him.
Jesus commands us to love Him above all things, to put the love of God before anyone and anything else. That ability to love God grows as we show love to others. The more we love ourselves and others, the more we will love God. And the more we love God, the more we will fulfill the purpose for which He created us. Being created in His image and likeness means being able to love. We find our greatest fulfillment when we give ourselves to others out of love, when we sacrifice ourselves for the good of others and when we forget ourselves in service to our neighbor.
All this is summed up beautifully in a traditional prayer called, “An Act of Love”
O my God, I love you above all things, with my whole heart and soul,
I love my neighbor as myself for the love of you.
I forgive all who have injured me
and I ask pardon of all whom I have injured.
Let this be our prayer and the way of life we seek to imitate as we follow Jesus, our Master, who is love itself.
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