Love! - but What? ...

Friday, Jan 29, 2016. Love is in the air … We hear about love everywhere in our culture. Love is a core topic of films for the young and the old. And love is a core topic for Christianity as a whole. But what do we love? How do we love? What is love like? Let us talk about love …

What do I love? …

What is it that I love? What is it that is of value to me, that I search, that I care about? What is it that pleases me, that brings joy and pleasure into my life? What is important for me? What is it that I invest time and effort into?

When you look into your life, you can observe where your love is! What is it that you observe? Perhaps you always wanted to have a good job, and now you have one. You put a lot of work into your job, you spend long hours in the office or with clients. And you love the success which it brings, the rewards, the appreciation. That is a kind of love in our life. It is good to have a positive attitude towards work. Humans are made to work, and to do it well, to succeed, to make progress and get appreciation for their efforts.

We can also love some type of activity. We can love sports, for example skiing. Or we love football, we play it ourselves, and we attend games from our favorite team. Enjoying some hobby, to play music, or to do sports, is good to pursue. When we love it to play, it is good. There are so many things which are perfectly fine to love, as long as our love does not take the place of being the center of our life, of being the defining moment of what we are and who we are! Let us read from the gospel of Luke:

$ASCII�� JKJK'�\# ��@��k��r��l�:��H}��~��;�.��NC��Ŷ�� "�"�"�"�� 1"� ��P1��"��`� ��1"�1"�!"�!"�1"�@�� @�`� ��1"�1"�1"�1"�!"�1"�1"�0�� 0�1"�1"��1"�1"�!"�!"�!"�1"�1"�1"�"�P1�1"�1"�1"�1"�1"� ��1"�A3�Q3�`� �A3�1"�1"�1"�1"�1"��1"�Q3�1"�1"�1"�1"�A3�A3�1"�P1��1"�1"�1"�1"�1"�1"�!"�1"�2w�!"�!"��1"�� 2w�2D�2w�2D�2w�2D�1"�2D�1"�!"�1"�!"��2D�2D�1"�1"�2D�2D�1"�2D�1"�1"�� P1��1"�2D�1"�1"�2w�2w�1"�1"�1"�@�� `� ��1"�1"�1"�0�1"�A3��1"�0�@�"�"�"��0�@�@�0�0�0�@�A3�A3�A3��0�@�A3�A3�A3�A3�� A3�A3��!��)h�� G��pv��r�j��jr�j��jr�j��jr�j��jr��)��a�� x��FAFA��0��FAFAe�� 7�� 7�r��Y�v� 7�� 7�� 7�f��Q�[� 7�p��c� 7�x�xi�g� 7�� 7�� 7��)y�s� 7��Y��r� 7��3n�s� 7��p�m� 7��\�n� 7��\�n� 7��\�n� 7��FAFA�� Z ��f ��T��Fl ��(��3��ZP��r��_��FAFA��F�� c ��&��[>��*�� *��6�� ...$

Be careful, what you love! …

45 And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, 46 “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 47 who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” (Luke 20,45ff)

Jesus also talks about loving some things. Here, it is about those who love to be in a prominent place in the name of faith. It is about misusing a leading role! It is about love, yes, about loving oneself. About loving things which exalt oneself. And it is about a complete misunderstanding of what the love of God is about! Jesus announces condemnation for such a behavior - he takes it very serious and clarifies its devastating consequences.

We are invited to the love of God. He is love himself. He is a love which is full of joy and full of truth. It is full of kindness and of care. It is not a love of myself, though I am taken into his limitless appreciation. He loves me, he values me - no doubt that he gives a value to me which is beyond my wildest dreams. But it is not my role to take it, but to receive it. For me the invitation is there to enter a community where kindness, truth and love are strong and deep and will last forever! With God I come to a love so beautiful, fresh and full of life … full of wonder. (RWEP) ... more texts