Editorial

A Response to God’s Love

In all our lifetime, God has faithfully shown His love and care for all of us. Yet, more often than not, we fail to respond to His initiative. Here’s an attempt therefore to outline the kind of response that we can give to Him who unconditionally and boundlessly love us.

Firstly, we must give our full trust to God. We don’t have to worry even when bad things happen to us. In the midst of trials and sufferings, God is always in control and will remain faithful to His children. He knows very well about our sufferings and trials. He works in all things, even bad things for good and can make every misfortune turn better. He brings light in our darkness. He really cares. Let us therefore be confident that we are always in good hands. Jesus Christ is completely reliable and trustworthy.

Secondly, we can respond to God’s Love by worshipping Him. Worship is simply giving God what is fitting and due Him. He is praiseworthy, not only for his power but also for His love, mercy, goodness, kindness, generosity and many other countless attributes. We praise Him for his humility in becoming one of us and in dying for our sake.

Thirdly, worshipping God must be our way of life. We can worship Him in many ways. We can offer our minds and bodies as living sacrifices, free of any blemish. We worship God when we are faithful to our covenant with Him; when we help our neighbors without expecting any return or reward. Our God is truly deserving of our time, attention and respect.

Praise deepens our relationship with God. It brings us even closer to Him. It is God’s desire to pour out His Spirit to all of us. It is the Spirit of God that guides, teaches, comforts and intercedes for us. It is His greatest pleasure to dwell with us through His Holy Spirit. We must remember that we were made for the purpose of praising God, of giving Him glory and honor. It is simply right that we praise the One who created us, the One who died and rose to save us and gave us life eternal, the One who works even now to help us become more like Him.

Lastly, giving honor to God is a way of responding to God’s love. We are honoring God when we do the things He wants us to do; when we serve other people, when we forgive those who hurt us instead of seeking revenge, when we perform our responsibilities with joy and humility, when we are faithful in our prayers and sacramental lives; when we are faithful in living out our covenant with Him in this community. ./Inday B.