To love is to be transformed into what we love. To love God is therefore to be transformed into God.
In the twilight of life, God will not judge us on our earthly possessions and human success, but rather on how much we have loved.
—–John of the Cross
‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
——Jesus
One of the hottest topics of all time is love. Love is so special that people die for it, kill for it, steal for it and mourn for it. John of the Cross teaches that love is transforming and far and away the most important attribute in the twilight of life. Jesus and Paul command us to love with all our being. In doing so we discover what is good.
Love is almost always defined as physical attraction. We fall in love as a result of attraction, then we discover a greater love as we develop a relationship with our partner. This Greater Love can be compared to the love that Jesus, Paul and John of the cross are referencing. There’s no singular word to describe the love that is spoken about in Scripture.
The word that is used to refer to the type of love that Jesus and these great men are speaking of is agape. This love has no real translation in our English language. We can refer to it as love of God for man or man’s love for God. This love is one that transforms and comes to be the only love that really matters. Agape eludes definition and stretches our minds to imagine what God is really like.
Agape love transforms and brings about changes in us that we can scarcely
imagine. People from all walks of life have made horrid mistakes and come to understand the love of God, and their lives are radically changed. Dishonest people turn to honestly. People who live very negatively learn to see what is good and right with the world. Those who understand this type of love learn to see God and other people. That is transformation.
We all want to leave a legacy. A legacy is something of value that outlives us. If a person loves this way, they leave a legacy. Their legacy shows a glimpse of the Almighty to those they touch. That glimpse can touch the lives of people and change them in ways that are unimaginable. May we all strive to be people that show the love of God to all persons.
That is the power of love!
PRAYER
Awaken and enlighten us, my Lord, that we might know and love the 
blessings which You ever propose to us, and that we might understand that You have moved to bestow favors on us and have remembered us.
O Lord, my God, who will seek You with simple and pure love and not find You are all he desires, for You show Yourself first and go out to meet those who desire You?
My spirit has become dry because it forgets to feed on You.
Amen
—–John of the Cross
A Pastor's Thoughts 