Be watchful, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.
I Corinthians 16:13-14
This reflection will conclude this series on “Called to Love.” In theory, what we have described is so simple. Four words—love God, serve others. Our entire faith is based on these four words. Christ’s entire message is summarized in four words. Yet, it is the application of these four words that provides the greatest challenges we will face in life. How to love God when everything is going wrong. How to serve a neighbor who is our enemy.
There are four facts to conclude this unit. God loves you. You are called to love God. You are called to love others. This is the path to eternal life.
The battle for love happens every day. It is a battle to believe God loves you, even when life throws significant challenges and setbacks at you. It is a battle to remember we are called to love God when the world tries to convince us that the highest power is our own thoughts and feelings. It is a battle to love others when the world tells us that we should love ourselves. And it is a battle to stay on the path to eternal life because to walk this path requires continual movement and effort on our part.
Every choice we make—what we focus on, how we treat people, what we prioritize—is shaping our lives. We were made for more than just getting through life. We were made for more than acquisition and conquest. We were made for more than achieving personal goals and even pursuing personal excellence. We were made for the Kingdom of God. And the way there is simple—love God, love others, and keep choosing to do both.
Saint Paul writes in I Corinthians 16:13-14, Be watchful, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love. This is yet another example of how we don’t have to devour chapters of Scripture to understand how God wants us to live. Applying these two verses to our everyday lives, if we applied nothing else from the Bible, would be sufficient to get us to the Kingdom of God.
Be watchful. Love requires constant vigilance. It is a daily choice. The good news is that love is a choice we can make at any time. If we are not on a good streak of expressing love for God or for one another, that can be changed at any time by making a choice to love.
Stand firm in your faith. Love requires firmness of faith. Faith, Christ, salvation and eternal life and the things that are pillars of Christianity, seem to be under scrutiny, if not attack, in our world today. Loving God, and in turn loving others, requires taking time to learn the faith, and to put a solid foundation of faith under our lives.
Be courageous. Love, sacrifice, service, obedience and submission are things that might bring us disapproval. It takes courage to stand for love in the face of criticism.
Be strong. Even the most devout Christians will suffer loss and setback. And sometimes these trials will challenge our love for God. Sometimes personal disagreements and betrayals will create enemies that are hard to love. To love God means to love at all times, even when God seems distant or silent. To love our neighbor means to serve even our enemy. It takes great strength to love at all times and in all circumstances.
Let all that you do be done in love. Sin is the absence of love. Sin and love cannot co-exist. If we really are able to do everything in love, then we would not have sin. Only God does everything in love. And the bar He sets is perfection itself. That is because God calls us to be like Him. He doesn’t call on us to be slightly imperfect but to be perfect, as He is perfect. Of course, we are not going to achieve this. However, every day, every moment, ideally, is an effort to love God and to serve others, as God loves us. Every time we slip, we should repent. And life then becomes a journey to love God, to serve others, and to repent and grow when we’ve failed. There is room for that. This is why love is patient, kind and optimistic. This is why God rewards effort. Because God knows we are not perfect. Therefore, He is patient and kind, and His judgment will be based on our effort and His grace. This is also why we forgive one another, because inevitably we try and fail with one another. This is why we are patient, kind and optimistic with one another, because God loves us with patience, kindness and optimism and sets the bar for how we are to love one another.
The Christian message is simple: God loves you. You are called to love God. You are called to love others. This is the path to eternal life. Living this every day is where the challenge comes in.
Lord, thank You for making the path to You so simple to define. You have summarized it in just four words—love You, serve others. And yet this path is so hard to walk. Help me and guide my life, so that I may always be watchful, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, and be strong. May I strive to do everything in love. Thank You for loving me. Help me to love You more. And to love my neighbor with patience and kindness, through forgiveness, sacrificial service, generosity and joy. Amen.
To Him be the glory, the dominion and the power, to the ages of ages. Amen.
