So, God first loved us. Indeed “God so loved the world that he sent his only Son…”. Christ, indeed, is God’s love made flesh for our salvation.
And by his love for us, so Christ teaches us to love one another. “Love one another,” he commands us, and by this love, all will know that you are my disciples.’ (John 13:34-35)
So, the person who says, “I love God, it’s people I can’t stand,” is really a hypocrite, or, as Saint John bluntly calls him, a liar. “…Whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”
Now that’s a tough saying, because people are hard to love. They are fickle, unfaithful, erratic and sometimes just not very nice. And we can say that even of our friends!
But we are called to love them. Every last one of them. Just as Christ has loved us, with “humility, patience, gentleness and love.” (Ephesians 4:2)
Llevamos casi tres semanas celebrando la Navidad: un festiva tan grandiosa que no puede caber en un solo día.
Y nos acercamos al final de la temporada navideña con San Juan, con quien pasamos la temporada navideña, explicando por qué escribió sus cartas.
"Le escribo estas cosas,” dice sin rodeos, "para que [ustedes que creen en el nombre del Hijo de Dios] puedan saber que tienen vida eterna”.
Es el núcleo del mensaje de Navidad, el verdadero significado de la cuna y la cruz: Que “Dios nos dio vida eterna, y esta vida está en su Hijo.”
La vida es realmente tan simple, y tan maravillosa.
