Love of Jesus: Living as His Disciples for Peace

Love of Jesus and Discipleship

The life of Jesus is the most perfect expression of love for God, and the disciple should strive to follow the same way: "Love one another as I have loved you." These words of Jesus are clear: they speak of a total, concrete, and real love, a love characteristic of true lives as children of God and brothers. Loving others is the sign of the love of God; you cannot love God without loving others, and vice versa. It is the characteristic of the disciples of Jesus: "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

Jesus brought to the world the Kingdom of God — a kingdom of peace, love, justice, and fraternity. This kingdom is now established in the world as a seed called to grow. Our development depends on the Kingdom of God as we:

• serve others
• respect the dignity of all people
• work for justice for the needy
• share what we have
• seek peace and tolerate different ideas and people
• respect God's creation

God loved us first. God took the initiative in love; God loved us, not because of our merit, but because his love is gratuitous. God loves because he is good. God created us in his own image and likeness, able to love and live in friendship with him.

This is therefore what defines us as people.

God has entrusted the world to us. Often we blame God for everything that happens in the world and forget that God trusts us to make this world better. God gives us good gifts. Human beings are called to transform and ennoble what they have received, working the land and building a fraternal world where justice and peace overcome violence and misery. God makes us creators, together continuing creation.

The love of Jesus. Jesus himself gave his disciples this command: "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Remain in my love." Jesus was deeply loved by the Father, and this love is what is manifested in his relationships with others. Jesus always gives the last word — for love is not merely a law that determines how we should behave in each situation. Men and women need real-life criteria for action and meaning, insofar as they serve those in need. Thus Jesus said: "I came not to be served but to serve." He did not act out of selfishness or self-interest; he sought neither fame nor money, nor power or prestige. His whole life is a self-giving for others, and this is what he asks his disciples to do.