“This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” – John 15, WEB
Sacrifice and Love. Two words that will always go together. Two things God Himself has taught us with His life.
By this we know what true love is. By this we see what’s worth finding and what’s worth dying for.
Many times, we fail to understand the depths of its meaning because we see it from afar. We see saints and heroes who willingly offered their lives in martyrdom, things we supposed we’d never need to do in our own lives.
And yet, were we not all called upon to carry our own cross? It’s in this very cross that we can render the offering of the self for love.
The opportunity is there for us each and every day. It is when we choose to help someone even if there is nothing we’d get back in return. It is when we forgive those who cannot even ask for forgiveness. It is when we let go of our own comforts for the sake of those we love. It is when we forego the little mistakes, the small offenses, the minor irritations we encounter in or daily lives.
Without sacrifice, we end up letting each other go and giving up on one another. Without sacrifice, we sacrifice love itself, and we end up losing that which matters most in life.
“If you really want to love Jesus, first learn to suffer, because suffering teaches you to love.” -St. Gemma Galgani
Check Jocelyn's books:
"Of Waves and Butterflies: Poems on Grief", "Mend My Broken Heart", "Questions to God", "To Love an Invisible God", "Defending My Catholic Faith", and more - click here.
(You may freely quote excerpts from this website as long as due credit is given to author Jocelyn Soriano and the website itakeoffthemask.com)