PURE LOVE ALONE

“The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.” –Jonah 3:1

After spending some time in the belly of a huge fish, Jonah changed his mind and obeyed the Lord (Jon 3:1-3). However, Jonah did not obey the Lord out of love. Jonah went reluctantly to Nineveh and was angry when 120,000 Ninevites repented and were spared destruction (see Jon 4:1).

Are you doing the right thing for a less than best reason? For example, do you obey God only to avoid hell? This is a good reason to obey God. However, our love for God is the best reason for doing anything.

Moreover, we must do everything at least partially because we love God, for without love even those things done for good reasons profit us nothing (1 Cor 13:3). God is Love (1 Jn 4:16); therefore, everything done in God must be done in love.

We must not only do everything in love, but also with at least as much love as our first love for the Lord. If we lose our first love, the Lord will put out our lamp-stand, that is, stop much of our activity (Rv 2:4-5).

Finally, the Lord will only temporarily let us live with mixed motives of love and other incentives. He will for a time take away our benefits from being Christian. Then the only reason for loving Him will be “love.”

PRAYER: Father, purify me to love You unconditionally. Give me pure love.
PROMISE: “She had a sister named Mary, who seated herself at the Lord’s feet and listened to His words.” –Lk 10:39
PRAISE: Bl. Francis was a humble Redemptorist priest in New Orleans in the mid-1800s. Numerous miracles of healing are attributed to his intercession, including healing of paralysis and leukemia.