Just love

Today’s column considers just how powerful the spirit of love can be.

Christian Science Perspective audio edition
Loading the player...

Nineteenth-century Scottish evangelist, biologist, writer, and lecturer Henry Drummond once said, “You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments that stand out, the moments when you have really lived, are the moments when you have done things in a spirit of love” (“The Greatest Thing in the World,” p. 56).

Many people today are happily discovering for themselves the truth of that insightful statement. It’s worth it to follow such a heartening trend and do the same. For me, this idea of loving has become even more meaningful in the light of what one of my most treasured books, the Bible, has to say about love: simply, that “God is love” (I John 4:8).

As a boy, I had determined God to be some sort of invisible entity who was silently watching and judging, rewarding and withholding. But when I began to consider God as all-encompassing and all-powerful Love itself, from that point forward nothing in my life was the same. Because divine Love is by its very nature limitless, it is with us wherever we go; it enlivens us, provides for us, and enables us to help others. This is the God who has “not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind,” as the Bible says (II Timothy 1:7).

Unselfish care for another that’s impelled by the concrete presence of the Divine is empowering, as Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, observes in her book “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.” She says: “Whatever holds human thought in line with unselfed love, receives directly the divine power” (p. 192). As we begin to recognize the allness and pure goodness of divine Love, our thought changes, and we reset our priorities for daily life. We let our actions, outlook, and inner thoughts express the loving nature of the God who created us in His spiritual image. This then enriches our interactions and experiences, sometimes far beyond our expectations. We discover that we can feel divine Love’s healing presence very tangibly.

When a friend of mine became absolutely overwhelmed with his workload, he had an unconventional response: Each day he prayed to feel and express more love for God, along with more love for the opportunities he was being given to serve others. He stayed very consistent with doing this. Before long, he discovered that not only had his sense of love expanded, he was also able to handle an even greater workload than he’d had before. This was noted and commended by management.

Christ Jesus often talked about the love of God. In fact, not just through his words, but in his acts, it was the leading theme in his healing ministry. From Jesus’ example we can begin to see that the divine Love that is God truly is so complete and all-encompassing that it leaves no room for anything unlike itself. Just Love. Love, and Love’s expression in us and the universe, is the entirety of true existence.

“He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him,” says the Bible (I John 4:16). Throughout any given day, we have numerous opportunities to demonstrate a growing awareness of God as Love, to joyfully strive to feel and express Love’s essence. The results will be seen in active, selfless love for others and a deepening love for God. God created us as the expression of His boundless love. So, as a result, what shall we do? Just love.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Just love
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/A-Christian-Science-Perspective/2018/0711/Just-love
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe