Inhibited from Loving
“If anyone says, “I love God,”
but hates his brother, he is a liar;
for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen
cannot love God whom he has not seen.”1 John 4:20
When asked what was the greatest commandment, Jesus said that it is to love God, but it doesn’t stop there. In loving God something else must necessarily follow. Jesus said the second is like the first: to love your neighbor as yourself. In other words, we cannot love God and not love our neighbors. That’s it. It’s short and simple. But as we know from experience not as quick and easy to live out. So what’s keeping us from loving God and loving our neighbors?
That’s a question that we need to ask ourselves and to bring it to God in prayer. At the core of it, it is because of our brokenness and woundedness. But the individual specificities are different for each one of us. Maybe for some it is insecurity in their own abilities and so jealousy inhibits them from seeing the other as a person of value, a child of God. For others maybe it is their pride that gets in the way. Still others maybe self-hate, not seeing their true worth and believing that they are unlovable and so relationships with others are meaningless and pointless. It could be a multitude of reasons. But what is it that keeps YOU and ME from loving?
May we be never allow our own insecurities and fears to keep us from going to God. Learning to love and also learning to be loved by God and by others is a lifelong journey. It goes along with our journey of faith, our journey of discipleship. Remember, it is a journey and along the way there will be bumps, detours, traffic jams, and accidents, but at the same time there will also be well paved roads, service centers to refuel, beautiful sunrises and sunsets, and breathtaking scenery and landscapes along the way. It is a journey and it is an adventure, but never one that is alone.
Let us remember that Jesus says to us “It is I; do not be afraid,” and so in faith and trust go to the Lord and ask, “Lord, what is keeping me from loving you and loving my neighbors? Help me to see and to understand, and please give me the grace to desire what is good and the courage to turn towards you and to love.”
