Why did Jesus command us to love?

This is the fifth in a series of posts about ‘Love’ from the Daily Meditations of Fr. Richard Rohr. In this one he talks about Jesus’ command to each of us to ‘love’, and how by doing so, we can grow in our own freedom.

Why did Jesus command us to love?

We must learn to move beyond ourselves, to set limits on our own needs and somehow to meet other peoples’ needs. We actually need to do this for our own good! That’s why Jesus commanded us to love—to get us started. So love is not a feeling, but a decision, yet a decision that increases our inner freedom each time we do it. You will know this only after you act on love.

Jesus didn’t say when you get healed, love; when you grow up, love; when you get it together and have dealt with all your wounds, then love. No, the commandment for all of us is quite simply, “Love!” Once we know it is not a feeling, but a grace empowered decision, we can all do it. And each time it is a growth in freedom—and flow.

St. Bonaventure’s vision of creation could be stated in this way: God created in such a way that there would be free agents who could freely choose to love God in return, and thus become like God themselves—sharing in the divine perfection. The whole venture proceeds on the basis of our inner freedom to love, but we do not know we have that freedom and power until we, in fact, act on it.

Mantra:
Be in love

This feels pretty important to me. Jesus commanded us to ‘Love’, but we are free to choose whether we will or not. But when we do, we realize the benefits we ourselves gain by doing so. As Fr. Richard says, “So love is not a feeling, but a decision, yet a decision that increases our inner freedom each time we do it. You will know this only after you act on love.” That really is, in my opinion, just how it should be. You can’t force someone to love you: it wouldn’t be genuine ‘love’. And making it impossible to choose any other option would be tantamount to forcing someone.

The email this came from was one of Fr. Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditations. If you would like to subscribe too, and I can recommend them, the website is here: The Center for Action and Contemplation. It won’t cost you anything.