Jan

7

It Really Is Quite Simple

January 7, 2008 |

Today’s first reading from 1 John 3 has a very short and simple message to it.

“We receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.  And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us.”

It’s not that hard to live a Christ-like life, but we always seem to find a way to make it difficult.  Step #1: believe in Christ; Step #2: love each other like Christ loves us.  It’s that simple.

St. John also has another message in today’s reading - beware of false prophets that take us away from these two simple steps.  And it is this message that we so often fail to heed.

We all know we are supposed to believe in Christ.  We all know that we are supposed to love one another.  But, how often are we sidetracked by things in our culture and our lives that lead us astray from our belief in Christ and our love for one another?

Everything we do, say, and think needs to be held up in the light - and we must ask the question - is this action, word or thought reflective of my faith in Christ and/or reflective of my love for another?  If not, we need to move on to something else.

If we live our life by these two simple steps, our love will be greater, our faith stronger, our priorities ordered properly, and our lives generally better.  We will be assured that we are walking with Christ and doing our Father’s will.

It’s not rocket-science.  Believe in Christ - love each other.  It’s that simple.


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