How God Loves 

   “But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.” (Matt 5: 44 – 45) 

   This teaching of our Lord goes against our human concept of fairness or justice.  He is telling us that we must love even those who have done great harm to us and to pray for them.  It seems crazy to us, but it is what we are to do.

   He also tells us, “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matt 5: 48).  Again, how are we to be perfect when we are not capable of perfection because of our sins?  Here again, it makes no sense from our simple human point of view.

   The more I’ve turned to God in my life, the more I’ve tried to learn of Him and get to know Him better, the more I realize that God is love.  Not that God loves, which of course He does, but that He is love itself.  There is no love except that which comes from the Father and that love is what we are to strive to emulate in this life.

   God does not look at us and determine whether or not we deserve or are worthy of His love.  If He did He would not love any of us because none of are worthy.  Instead, He loves us all; the bad as well as the good, the unjust as well as the just.

   This is what Jesus is telling us in the gospel, not only in the quotes above but throughout the gospel, in all aspects of His life.  This is the perfection we are to strive to attain, recognizing that only God can make us perfect and only God can make us holy.

   The love of God overcomes all; it will never be withdrawn or revoked even in those who refuse to love Him in return.  Even as He was dying on the cross our Lord pleaded with the Father to forgive those who had nailed Him to the cross (Luke 23: 34).

   As strange as it may sound and as difficult as it certainly is, if we are to be God’s children we too must strive to love others as He loves us.