“To love means to open ourselves to suffering. Shall we shut our doors to love, then and ‘be safe'” – Elisabeth Elliot, The Path of Loneliness
One idea that has often kept me from loving Jesus more is the idea that Jesus doesn’t need anything from me. He is God after all, and God is Perfect. And somehow, I’ve found it difficult to love Someone who is perfect.
It may sound absurd, but somehow, I find it easier to love beings such as me, people who are imperfect. People who need something. People who crave for love and whose hearts are broken when their love is not returned.
With another imperfect person, I feel that I could do something of worth. I can care for that person and protect that person from harm. I can avoid doing things that could hurt him or her.
But with God, how do I even begin to love? If He doesn’t need anything from me, what more could I possibly do?
It is only much later when I’ve realized the flaw in my line of thinking. Why did I ever believe that God doesn’t need my love or that He wouldn’t be hurt when His love is not returned?
Mother Teresa spoke about the thirst of Jesus, this thirst that isn’t physical but a real thirst for love:
“Jesus is God, therefore His Love and His Thirst are infinite. He, the Creator of the universe, asked for the love of his creatures. He has thirst for our love … These words: ‘I THIRST’ … Do they echo in our soul?”
God didn’t need to need us, but He chose to. He didn’t need to be hurt, but He allowed Himself to be vulnerable for the sake of love.
In the diary of St. Faustina, we can read the following words from Jesus:
“Oh, how painful it is to Me that souls so seldom unite themselves to Me in Holy Communion. I wait for souls, and they are indifferent toward Me. I love them tenderly and sincerely, and they distrust Me. I want to lavish My graces on them, and they do not want to accept them. They treat Me as a dead object, whereas My Heart is full of love and mercy. In order that you may know at least some of My pain, imagine the most tender of mothers who has great love for her children, while those children spurn her love. Consider her pain. No one is in a position to console her. This is but a feeble image and likeness of My love.”
Jesus allowed Himself to be born as a human being. As a baby, He needed the protection of His earthly mother and father. As a man, He underwent pain and suffering from the people who mocked Him, from those who crucified Him, and even from His friends who deserted Him.
“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken.”-C.S. Lewis
Jesus chose to love us and in loving us, risked being hurt for the sake of love.
May I no longer think of God as One who is unreachable, cold and indifferent to us. May I never think that He is One who never gets hurt when His love is unreturned.
God is Love. Love that proves itself in suffering, even to the point of dying for His beloved ones.
“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”-John 15:13, WEBBE
The thing about hope is that it’s a positive force that shines the most when it’s dark. When everything’s going well, we hardly notice it’s there. But when things go against us, when our dreams fade and when we see no immediate reprieve from our troubles, that’s when hope does its best work for us.
"Where Hope Can Be Found"