I Would Rather Love Too Much

Last updated on: October 28, 2016 at 12:03 pm by John O'Keefe

I Would Rather Love Too Much 2016-10-28T12:03:17-05:00 John O'Keefe

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The following seems clear to me.

“I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love.” [John 15:11-12]

We’re told to love others, and to me, that’s pretty simple stuff. When we love others, we receive the joy of the Divine – amazing joy. Now, I’m not saying this is easy, but imagine a world where we loved others, truly loved others; loved with a promise of joy, a loved with a promise of unity, a loved with a promise of life, a loved with a promise of hope, loved with a promise of unity.

I was once in a conversation with a Pastor who told me I was going to go to hell, because I loved, and welcomed, all people into the church. He said, because I was so open, so loving, and so accepting, [his] God would never welcome me into his glory. I thought about it for a second, and said, “To be honest with you, when my time comes I would rather hear the Divine tell me, ‘You loved too much’ instead of ‘you didn’t love enough.’”

Too many want to see their love as conditional:

I should only love those in my church
I should only love those who believe in Jesus
Because I love, I want to save people
Because I love, I want people to believe what I believe

If we look at that Jesus adds to the John quote above, he says, “This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends.”

Loving those in your church is not putting your life on the line for them
Loving only those who believes in Jesus is not going out of your way for others
Showing your love by trying to save others is not giving or your life [besides, you can’t save anyone]
Showing you love only those who believe what you believe has no joy.

Here’s what Paul shares with the Corinthians about what Love is:

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies.

You see, I’m willing to stand before the Divine knowing I’ve loved too many people, then to stand in front of the Divine knowing I loved too little. How about you?

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