Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ at Colossae:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel.
Colossians 1:1–5 (RSV)
St. Paul loved the churches he founded. Even when he writes to admonish them, his love for them is evident. It is at the heart of our faith when we share the Gospel; we are sharing the love of Christ.
A good friend, as he explained the love of God for us, reminded us that when you love as Jesus loves, at times loves says, 'no.' A 'love' that only allows all things or is concerned for what it can get, is not Christ's love. The love we receive from our Father is the love that is always looking beyond itself.
The Church is a community living in the love of Christ. It is a community that receives the love of God as His gift. We are a community that seeks to love one another as we are loved in Christ. Jesus commissions us to proclaim His love to all the world.
We love, not as the world 'loves' for the world has some very strange ideas about love. Most appear to be focused on some form of personal pleasure that uses others to satisfy itself. We are living witnesses that there is a much better way to love.
So we, in Christ, are willing to do the hard work of love. Loving as we have been loved, we can be that guiding light our world needs.