Thursday March 13th: Extending God’s love to others

‘So always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the Law and the Prophets.’

Matthew 7:7-12

We must allow God’s love to purify our mind, heart and speech.

Prayer flows from the love of God; and the personal love we show to our neighbour is fuelled by the love that God has poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). Jesus concludes his discourse on prayer with the reminder that we must treat our neighbour in the same way we wish to be treated by God.

We must not just avoid doing harm to our neighbour, we must actively seek his or her welfare. In doing so, we fulfill the scriptural teaching from the “law and the prophets,” namely what God requires of us – loving God with all that we have and are and loving our neighbour as ourselves.

The Holy Spirit is ever ready to change our hearts and transform our lives in Jesus’ way of love and merciful kindness towards all. Do you thirst for holiness and for the fire of God’s purifying love? (Don Schwager).