We Love God Best when We Love Others.

On Mother’s Day, Samantha, a bubbly nine-year old whom everyone calls Sammy, scratched her fingers cutting bright yellow flowers for her mom. While sparkling in the sunlight, these yellow flowers hid tiny, prickly thorns   causing most people to hesitate to cut them. However today this did not deter Sammy!

She carefully picked the flowers scratching her hands in the process. When Bonnie her older sister asked why she did it, Sammy replied, “It’s Mother’s Day and mom loves yellow flowers, and I wanted to surprise her.” 

Taking hold of her brilliant yellow bouquet, her mother with tears in her eyes said, “Thanks Sammy they’re lovely, and you’re lovely too for making sacrifices.” Continuing while holding Sammy’s hands her mother added, “You know Jesus hurt his hands on the cross loving you and me also.” 

She went on saying, “Remember the nails in his hands. He accepted that awful pain because he loved us enough to die so we can go to heaven.” 

Hugging Sammy her mother said, “Your hands were hurt in much the same way. You wanted to show your love for me, and I am as grateful to you as I am to Jesus. Sometimes love hurts when we give it to someone else.” 

Another example of giving love that hurts is Kendrick Castillo, who sacrificed his life saving his fellow students during a Colorado school shooting. He tackled the shooter saving their lives but sacrificing his. His fellow students honored Kendrick realizing that his love took all he had to give: his life.

 At the end of the Easter season, Christ  will  leave us as he returns to his Father’s right hand. He asks us to live our lives  loving others as he loves us.  Like Sammy, Kendrick, and Jesus, our love for our mother may hurt for many reasons. Perhaps our mothers have passed away or relationships with our mothers somehow grew stale and loving grew difficult.  But maybe others have come forward filling that role.

 Jesus still asks us to love as he loved.  He tells us: “I give you a new commandment: Love one another as I have loved you so you also should love one another. This is how all will know you are my disciples if you have love for one another.”

Jesus never promised it would be easy. As young Sammy discovered picking flowers, and Kendrick with his final choice, reward for love as Jesus showed is sometimes weighted with aches.

Every Mother’s Day is a good time to remember what love is and the why we share it.  We love because God made us to love, and our hearts are the fountains for that love. Hearts stream love. Like an inflated beach ball in a swimming pool, true love cannot stay submerged.

 Christ reminds us every Mother’s Day with these words: “This is how all will know you are my disciples if you have love for one another.”  A good reminder for everyone: love is God’s gift to us all.