Brunner: love

Wednesday, February 1, 2017
    Commemoration of Brigid, Abbess of Kildare, c.525
Meditation:
    Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.
    —Hebrews 13:1-3 (ESV)
Quotation:
    [Love] does not inquire into the character of the recipient but it asks what he needs. It does not love him because he is such-and-such a person but because he is there. In all this it is quite the opposite of natural love: it “does not seek its own.” It does not perform the characteristic natural impulse of love and life. Therefore it is basically independent of the conduct of the other person; it is not conditional but absolute. It wants nothing for itself but only for others. Therefore it is also not vulnerable. It never “reacts” but is always “spontaneous,” emerging by its own strength—rather, from the power of God. Love is the real God-likeness of man for which he has been created. In so far as love is in man he really resembles God and shows himself to be the child of God.
    ... Emil Brunner (1889-1966), The Letter to the Romans, Philadelphia: Westminister Press, 1959, p. 155 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:45-48; Rom. 12:13-21; 1 Cor. 13:4-5; Eph. 5:1; Phil. 2:4; Col. 3:10-14; Heb. 13:1-3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make a reflector of Your love. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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