putting love into action

by Kenny A. Noble (Indiana, U.S.A.)

I was preoccupied with tasks around the house and paid little attention to the distant voice outside my back door. I assumed that I was hearing the neighborhood children playing, but later I realized that someone was calling for help. Finally alarmed, I ran toward the sound and discovered a neighbor with his fingers caught in the engine belt of his garden tractor.

"Help me!" he cried.

I cut the engine belt and set him free. He had tried to repair the running engine. Fortunately the motor had stalled, leaving his fingers only pinched and bruised.

I left feeling guilty, knowing that if I had responded at his first cry, I could have spared him some of his suffering. As I prayed to become more sensitive to my surroundings, God helped me to see that I also sometimes fail to notice the emotional pain of the people around me. I realized that preoccupation with personal interests had often made me insensitive. I determined from that moment on to listen more attentively and to be sensitive to the needs of those around me.

Love has been the central of Jesus's teaching. Firstly, He tells us to love God with all our heart. Secondly, He tells us to love one another, to love our neighbors, to love our enemies. Why love God?. By loving God, we will do our best to obey God's commands. If we do not love God, we will ignore all His commands. But love must be put into act and in good faith. We cannot just say we have love but do not put it into action. Loving God means doing and following His commands.

Love one another, love your neighbors, love your enemies. It might be easy to love one another especially families and friends. So as to love our neighbors. But how about to love our enemies? If we love our enemies, do we still have enemies? Loving our enemies is similar to making friend with our enemies. I realize that what Jesus wants us to understand is that we live in peace with one another. To love one another is the way of living that He wants us to practice. By loving one another we do not have enemies.

But that love need to be put into act not merely in word and in tongue. And the act of love must be in good faith....