Love Others Intensely Because You Were Loved Intensely

Without love, nurture and nutrition, no living thing can prosper. We humans are no different. In fact, statistics demonstrate that infants that were not held with love; compassion and proper nutrition, always exhibit troubles of insecurity later in adulthood. How interesting that Psalm 1 provided us with a beautiful imagery similar to the vine and its branches in John 15. The image describes a tree planted close to a river; bearing fruits in due season with leaves that do not wither. The Psalmist was comparing people who walk in the way of righteousness to this beautiful tree with green branches all year. Of course, the tree is healthy because it has had plenty sun; its roots have sufficient water and well-nourished in its soil. All this imagery is pointing to believers with a healthy, strong relationship with God! Their roots are deeply embedded in Jesus. They are grounded in Christ; stable and secure because they are constantly nourished by divine life. It begs the question of what does a person grounded in Christ look like? This question came to Jesus from a lawyer in the form of greatest commandment. Jesus replied: “Love God with all your heart, soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself.” That grounds us in Christ. Communion with Jesus and each other allows us to grow in God’s grace and wisdom. When the life of God flows in us like that, we become stable/secure even in the most volatile circumstances, our roots in Christ keep us from being tossed around by any storm. Are you rooted in Jesus? Jesus knew the formula, for us to live at the center of gravity with our roots deeply grounded in Jesus. Only with a strong relationship with our creator, can we find balance and be secure enough to able to love others with this divine love in us that God has loved us with. I am not making this up. In these four years, I have observed Fr Jeff love you, pray for you with deep sighs. And he has demonstrated love for the community around here the way their creator loves them. When we get a call from the south of Memphis saying: help me, none else is willing to listen to me except you. I believe them. God has us to respond with love on his behalf. Just like the healthy tree next to the river, you and I were nurtured; clothed; well-fed; sheltered; protected by God Almighty. Now the Psalmist takes a step further and says: “if you walk in the way of righteousness, you are like the healthy tree). You are Stable/secure because you are fed/loved with divine life in Christ Jesus. So, be courageous and love others with that divine life of Christ in you, direct it even to those who are not at the center: the boring/the unlovable/the troublesome, all those living on the periphery. Nurture them with that divine life because it was not meant for you alone, it was meant for those who don’t know God yet. You are the conduit of God’ love. The truth is that we have been loved by God intensely so that we can be like him and love others intensely. I see/sense the Kingdom of God amongst us because you have loved me, in such practical ways that I cannot doubt God’s love for me through you. Pursue God; pursue virtue; Be in a right relationship with God. From that will come right relationship with our neighbor. Ask someone: How has your week been? Encourage each other; share Holy Scripture. This is Classical Christianity. Make your environment a place of nurture for many and you will see that by God’s grace, He will use you! Put your roots in Christ, not in culture, or anything else. Serve the Lord! Amen

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