Do we fail to love according to the commandment of the Lord? Then we lose the distinctive mark imprinted on us. Are we puffed to repletion with empty pride and arrogance? Then we fall into the inevitable condemnation of the devil.—St. Basil the Great, Letter 56
Many years ago, my stepfather told us, “I love you, because it is my duty.” My brother and I instinctively understood that one cannot love out of a sense of duty. Ever since, I have been somewhat suspicious of the association of “love” with “commandment” even knowing the words of our Lord on the subject.
ReplyDeleteThe Great Basil here speaks of failure to love in conjunction with “losing the distinctive mark imprinted on us.” I assume that by this he asserts that the ability to love is indeed imprinted on us. I can only conclude that, according to the Gospel that teaches that God has done everything for us to bring us into His kingdom here on earth, and later into the eternal habitations prepared by His Son, our Redeemer, He gives us both the ability to love and the desire to do so. And when we pray, “and lead us not into temptation,” we also pray that He would continue to enable us to love so that we do not “fall into the inevitable condemnation of the devil.”
Thus it is also a warning we should heed when we notice that we have failed to love our neighbor by withholding our help from him.
Peace and Joy!
George A. Marquart
He was kind of guilting a friend into writing him back and not ignoring him. But a good warning and reminder. We love because He first loved us. But if He loves us and that love apprehends us, then love in our lives will be inevitable. The distinctive mark of having been apprehended by love is that we end up loving in response.
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