What does Christian love entails? My
dear brothers and sisters, there is a love that is based on friendship, based
on kinship. It is a love that requires the person that we love to reciprocate.
And so, most of us, we love in that manner. It is a very human form of love.
This kind of love is not yet truly Christian love. And that is the reason
why human love based on friendship, based on kinship, sometimes, and very
often, it is not truly fulfilling. It is not yet full, simply because such love
has obligations. And very often, those who love us use their love to control
us, to make demands on us. And when love is an obligation, there is no more
capacity, there is no more energy to love. It is not a joy, because it is an
obligation. And because they use love to control and dictate the demands on those
whom they love, they are not set free. They become slaves, actually. Then there
is a second kind of love. It is a humanitarian love. It is a love that
gives freely. It is the love of the Good Samaritan, when we feel the pain of our
brothers and sisters, when we feel their suffering, and we extend our love for
them. This kind of love is, of course, even greater than just human love.
Because this kind of love does not expect any reward, no return. We love
those who cannot love us back, who cannot repay us. This kind of love is closer
to the love of God. And this kind of love, my dear brothers and sisters, is
truly more fulfilling, when we love those who cannot return us. Yet, there is
still a third level of love. And this is the hallmark of Christian love we have
not yet arrived, because to love those who are suffering, who are poor, all
religions, I presume, practice that; works of charity. But however,
Christian love demands that the love that we give, is a love for our enemies.
This is Christ's love. Because Christ loves us in such a way, that He became a
vicarious sacrifice for us all. He died on the cross, not for His friends, but
for sinners, for His enemies. This form of love, of course, is a very tall order.
How can we love our enemies? This is really very difficult, because our
enemies have hurt us deeply. How can we let go? We want justice. We want
revenge. We want to make sure our enemies will suffer as much as we have
suffered. That is why when our enemies don't pay for their sins, we are not
happy. And the Lord said, "Love your enemies." Because the Father loves us
all. We are all His children. And even if we are sinners, the Father loves us.
Which parent does not love their child, even if the child is rebellious and
naughty? We all love our children. And so, if we want to be truly sons of the
Most High, then we need to love like God. Because if we are called to be sons
of God, it means that we share in the life of God, in His nature of loving
even our enemies and those who have hurt us. When you love God, you will
trust Him, even when things do not seem to be going your way. My dear brothers and sisters, unless we
are conscious of our own sins against God, against our brothers and sisters,
what is it when we think of others hurting us? Look, we have hurt others as
much as others have hurt us. Don't think we are saints, we are perfect. If only we
are more conscious of our own sinfulness and our unworthiness and God's mercy,
we will be able to forgive with the strength of God's compassion for us.
Those who take revenge, those who want justice all the time, they do not know
how much wrong they have sinned against the Lord. If Christ can forgive on the
cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing", in spite of
all that they did, what about us? The resurrection was the vindication of
Jesus' death. Even if we had not been vindicated in this life, we are told, we
will always be vindicated by God. And even if in this life, we look silly, we
look foolish in the eyes of our enemies, of our detractors, we would have modelled
ourselves on the heavenly realm, because at least we can say, we have the
heart of God, we love like Him, we forgive like Him, and we transcend our
enemies. That kind of love, my dear brothers and sisters, is truly liberating,
empowering, enriching and life giving.
