17 Here is how love has been brought to maturity with us: as the Messiah is, so are we in the world. This gives us confidence for the Day of Judgment. 18 There is no fear in love. On the contrary, love that has achieved its goal gets rid of fear, because fear has to do with punishment; the person who keeps fearing has not been brought to maturity in regard to love.
Saint André Bessette, Religious (Optional Memorial)We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.(1 John 4:16)
“You don’t love me!” Every parent has heard this accusation from a disgruntled child. Usually the subtext is, “If you really loved me, you’d let me do—or have—what I want right now.” When an exchange reaches this point, it’s usually pointless for the parent to disagree or argue. A list of examples of how much a parent does love that child will only fall on deaf ears.
So how have St. John and his readers come to the ringing conviction he expresses here? Some of them have had a dramatic personal encounter with the Lord that stirred up strong feelings, but true conviction can’t rest only on the memory of these feelings. After the initial glow of such an encounter fades, it’s not uncommon for trials or challenges to tempt us to doubt God’s love. It’s not only trials either. Think of how a husband and wife’s romantic feelings may eventually cool. This can also happen with God.
Thank God that love is not judged by feelings alone! It’s judged by giving, even when we don’t feel like it. The old adage still holds true: love is a choice, not just an emotion.
This is how we can be sure God loves us: he is always giving to us. And he is always giving us his best. Remember, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16). It may not be what we want at any given moment, but it is always exactly what we need: grace to forgive, wisdom in a tough situation, a helping hand from a friend, or even a prick of our conscience telling us to repent.
Our heavenly Father holds back nothing. He may not always give us a pleasant experience, but he will always give us his Son. He will always work to release us from the grip of sin and to form us into his own image and likeness. He will always give himself to us every day, whether we are aware of his presence or not.
Now that’s a love you can count on!
“Father, I believe in the love you have for me. Help me to live and act out of that assurance today.” Amen!
Psalm 72:(0) By Shlomo:
(1) God, give the king your fairness in judgment,
endow this son of kings with your righteousness,
2 so that he can govern your people rightly
and your poor with justice.
10 The kings of Tarshish and the coasts will pay him tribute;
the kings of Sh’va and S’va will offer gifts.
12 For he will rescue the needy when they cry,
the poor too and those with none to help them.
13 He will have pity on the poor and needy;
and the lives of the needy he will save.
Mark 6:45 Immediately Yeshua had his talmidim get in the boat and go on ahead of him toward the other side of the lake, toward Beit-Tzaidah, while he sent the crowds away. 46 After he had left them, he went into the hills to pray. 47 When night came, the boat was out on the lake, and he was by himself on land. 48 He saw that they were having difficulty rowing, because the wind was against them; so at around four o’clock in the morning he came toward them, walking on the lake! He meant to come alongside them; 49 but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought it was a ghost and let out a shriek; 50 for they had all seen him and were terrified. However, he spoke to them. “Courage,” he said, “it is I. Stop being afraid!” 51 He got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. They were completely astounded, 52 for they did not understand about the loaves; on the contrary, their hearts had been made stone-like.----------------------------
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