Love the Way God Loves

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus teaches us to love the way God loves. 

He says: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly… Treat others as you would like them to treat you… Give generously without seeking a return.”

What is love?

Love is a choice to want some good for someone. There are two ways:

The first way is wanting some good for yourself. To be happy we need the good of relationship with God and others. We also need physical goods, such as sleep, nutrition, and exercise. And we need the good of accomplishment as well as truth and beauty. We seek our own personal happiness through the attainment of these good things. This is the way we love ourselves.

The second way to love is to want some good for someone else. So, for example, if I were to say, “I love my wife and my kids; I’d do anything for them,” it would indicate that what I desire is for my wife and kids to be happy. I want to help them attain the good things they need to be happy.

The ultimate means to happiness is not to focus on your happiness alone, but on the happiness of God and others – that is, to want good for them.

Only the person who loves, who makes someone else’s good his own and goes beyond self-centered limitations is the one who achieves the goal of life.