DIVINE LOVESpeaker: Dr. D.G.S. Dhinakaran Gist: When God's divine love flows, one serves mankind like Christ. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. God wants each one of us to follow His steps i.e. to bear the burdens of others.
Saint Mother Teresa walked in the footsteps of our loving Lord Jesus Christ. The Missionaries of Charity that was run by Mother Teresa's primary task was to love and care for those persons nobody was prepared to look after. She served the poor, giving her life. Her life demonstrated the love of Christ. And when her life ended in this earth and while her funeral procession was proceeding, people thronged in multitudes. Destitute people and orphans cried out, "Whom shall we call as our mother?"
She was a loving mother to every person who was uncared and forsaken by the society. Be it a little orphan boy or a 70 year-old man. They were not in anyway related to her and they belonged to different nations yet they called her mother, because of the divine love that flowed out of her. She bore the burden of everyone who came unto her.
How could she do that? I read her life story. One day as a young nun while she was travelling in a train, Jesus appeared to her and said, "Teresa, take care of my destitute children. I will be your Provider". She implicitly obeyed the call of the Lord and bore the burdens of millions, because of the divine love that flowed from her.
"He who does not love does not know God, for God is love" (1 John 4:8).
"And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him" (1 John 4:16).
"By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren"(1 John 3:16).
"In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:9,10).
The above-cited verses describe the divinity of love. Love was manifested on the cross. God exhibited His love by coming into this world and sacrificing His life on the cross of Calvary.
When this divine love enters the heart of a man, it knits with the hearts of others. Such a person can love and bear everyone in spite of not receiving love from him or her. God wants us to walk in His calling with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love. (Ephesians 4:2)
This divine love enabled Mother Teresa to bear the burden of millions. God wants to give us the same love so that we can also be like Mother Teresa.
"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).
When we understand the great love that God has for us and when His divine love flows in us, we will no longer live a selfish life but will bear the burden of others and will serve mankind like Christ served us.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
I thank You for the wonderful deeds that You have done in my life. Grant me a heart to love others, to pray for others and to forgive others. Let the light of Your salvation shine in my life. Help me to be compassionate to others. When I undergo trails and tribulations, help me never to get discouraged, but to move on with faith and hope in You. In Jesus' compassionate name, I pray.
Amen. |