The Redundancy of Love when it turns to self-serving

The Redundancy of Love when it turns to self-serving 

The act of love, giving or receiving, is the most essential form of expression divine or human.  It is found in the most severe events that occur frequently for the creator’s blessings, or the creature’s immediate needs.  We are, all of us, God’s recipients of grace, forgiveness, and the mandate to share this love with every last breath we have.  

Does the significance of the love Jesus showed each one of us by giving up his human remains on the cross become just a breath in the wind?  Has the promise of eternal life with him in heaven become just another page in history and now fades away as the next page of human history is turned to the next chapter?

Whenever a problem occurs with a brother or sister and they are taken away by the authorities for anything, do we forget them at a time when he/she needs our very countenance and deep concern for their well being?  If that does come about, and we ignore their need for our love and concern, we have turned any semblance of love to a self-serving entity.  

Just recently, a member of a family was arrested for a legitimate transgression and put in jail.  At first the immediate family had no idea of what happened and all were deeply concerned for his welfare.  Then after some investigation one member discovered he was arrested and because his driver’s license had been suspended at an earlier time he now was a convict in the eyes of some, and his one phone call was refused by his significant other.

Whoa!  What just became the sense of mercy, for a brother who made a mistake, to the moral sentencing of the very person we loved, and now are acting like one being sent to the gallows.

We are always reminded that in each person there is Christ.  Have we sent Jesus back to Calvary, with the same accusation that an innocent person deserves justice as we look on.  True, he made a mistake and will pay for a civil misdemeanor, but to see his mistake as reason to throw him under the bus goes beyond the term of love.  This action of ours has become a redundancy and leans towards a self-serving nominal love.  In name only!

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated occurrence that happened recently to a familiar person, it is an on-going scenario happening too frequently and in too many cities around the country.  Perhaps the frequency is exacerbated due to the everyday crisis with insurrection, anarchy, and even murder in our city streets.  So, another person, with a common mistake not vicious, has fallen into the same pattern as the rest.  We must be very aware of the difference and not be ready to nail another person to a cross, but to at least show compassion and a deep sense of real love.

Ralph B. Hathaway