As we reach the end of these Lenten musings, it’s very easy to summarise the life God wants us to live. He wants us to live a life of love. Love is the fulfilment of the law (see Rom 13:10 & Gal 5:14) and if we want to reflect God’s nature to others, we have to show His love in practical ways.
Getting rid of impatience, worry, idleness, pride, anger, envy and unforgiveness are means of pruning wrong attitudes, thoughts and actions from our lives. Embracing patience, trust, service, humility, kindness, gentleness, forgiveness and compassion are ways of reflecting God positively to a world that knows a lot about different kinds of love but which struggles to understand the selfless, unconditional love of God.
Tomorrow, Good Friday, is the day when we contemplate this love in its purest form: Christ hanging on a cross to redeem us from our sins. As Peter puts it, ‘Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.’ (1 Pet 3:18) Our response is to give ourselves wholly, unreservedly, to God, so that we become messengers of reconciliation to a world starving for love. Love well and do as you please, Augustine said, for when we love as God loves, our actions will match His.
