The Revolution of Love!

"People don't care how much you know,
until they know how much you care"


The Revolution of  LOVE!

 
It is easy for us to talk theology or ask people to do the sinner's prayer then leave everything up to them after that. We go then to the next poor neighbor or sinner as if we are salespeople looking for another sale, so to speak, selling "Jesus" as a product, a ticket to get to heaven.

We say that "religion" will not save them but we don't try to find a way to connect relevantly to the community or the people's culture. We don't make an effort to be sensitive to their needs and find ways for them to truly understand God's love.

Jesus dealt with people differently. He had a revolutionary way of thinking. He attracted the sinners and the sinners were attracted to Him. On the other hand, He made the Pharisees and the Sadducees crazy mad at Him because He knew their hearts. His mission was to restore our relationship with the Father. He leveled Himself so he could be with sinners without sinning. He became a human being to relate to what true spirituality is for people. Therefore, we should also be finding ways to relate to different people. We should do this not because God's salvation is weak, but because God wants us to reach out and love the unlovable, to love the scum of the earth, to love the hated ones, to love inexplicably like Jesus did.

But here we are, creating our own religion, making heaps of rituals to connect to God. In the process, we please ourselves instead of God by unconsciously acting in our own religious ways. We share the good news or do good works for religion's sake, or for work's sake, or for eternal "credit" in heaven. We want to get rewarded for the good that we do. We think of heaven as the ultimate end. God said we should love Him first, then our neighbor. That basically summarizes all the commandments. Yet, we resort to doing all these good things again because we fear that if we don't go to church or help the poor, God will punish us. We are afraid that we might experience the same fate like the "bad people." How pathetic of us to think that way! We think that doing all the good things by the book would make us "holier than thou." We were called the light of this world, and as light, we should be put in the dark to light up the dark. Our presence should "enlighten" the people who were kept in the dark for the longest time. It is only through sharing the good news that they would be enlightened and transcend in their understanding about life and God. That would make people eventually say that our God is real, and that our God is full of love. They would say, "I want the God that is in them."

We should light up this dark, poor world without aiming for eternal or worldly credit. We should do it because of love. We express love that is coming from the source of all love. God is love, and when we put love into action, then that becomes pure religion.  James 1:27 says, "a religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. " (NIV)

The scripture says, "Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

It is only with true love and good works for your neighbor that the Holy Spirit can work in their salvation. That is why we cannot say that we won someone for it is only God who wins a soul back to Him. We can only show the love of God to our neighbors, not because we are obligated but because we are full of love. Only then will you be truly sharing the real salvation that comes from God. You will do so because of love and because you love, period.

Jesus summarized the true meaning of religion in Matthew 22:37-40, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Your being good does not matter, because it is all about God's goodness flowing through you. Only then will your Father be pleased.


Jayjay lizarondo - facebook
www.hop-e.org