[WARNING: I do not 100% guarantee sainthood if you read. Sorry… ]
I have always wanted to “’save someone’s life’ and die a saint”, but obviously we can become saints in many ways. There are different ways we can become saints, but we don’t have to do a selfless, awe-inspiring act like St. Maximillian Kolbe did, but the key first step in becoming saints, is by beginning to love. Even though Kolbe did not know Franciszek Gajowniczek, he had the love, he had the God-like love, in his heart to give up his life for him. That is how we should live our life out every day, to a very certain extent.
“There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends.” - John 15:13 (NLT) This is the one Bible quote I have lived by my entire life. Literally, there is nothing that can compare to putting yourself in front of or even “dying” for your friends. That is just unpayable. That is one of the purest types of love there is. As all of you who went on retreat know, this is the agape love we were learned about. But let’s first start off with what kind of love we are talking about. For those who did not go on the Agape retreat I am not talking about the passionate, “sexual” love we all see in movies, I am talking about agape, the purest love there is. The definition of the word “agape” is the love that God gives off to us. It is the selfless, unconditional love. We must learn how to use this love, so that what we do in our daily lives we don’t do it for our own pleasure, we do it for God and His eternal glory.
We humans must learn to love. Loving each other is how we get closer to God, it is how we ultimately go to heaven. I admit it is a very hard thing to do. It takes time, commitment and energy, but we can live and love at the same time. We don’t have to go out and necessarily “die” for our friends, but we can do the things we do daily with love. As Saint Mother Teresa said, “In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love."
God gave us His eternal love for a reason, so let’s not waste it. Let us go out into the world and become saints. Not for ourselves but for God and His glory.
God bless,
Antonio Tan
“I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.”
-Mother Teresa
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love”
-1 Corinthians 13:13
I have always wanted to “’save someone’s life’ and die a saint”, but obviously we can become saints in many ways. There are different ways we can become saints, but we don’t have to do a selfless, awe-inspiring act like St. Maximillian Kolbe did, but the key first step in becoming saints, is by beginning to love. Even though Kolbe did not know Franciszek Gajowniczek, he had the love, he had the God-like love, in his heart to give up his life for him. That is how we should live our life out every day, to a very certain extent.
“There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends.” - John 15:13 (NLT) This is the one Bible quote I have lived by my entire life. Literally, there is nothing that can compare to putting yourself in front of or even “dying” for your friends. That is just unpayable. That is one of the purest types of love there is. As all of you who went on retreat know, this is the agape love we were learned about. But let’s first start off with what kind of love we are talking about. For those who did not go on the Agape retreat I am not talking about the passionate, “sexual” love we all see in movies, I am talking about agape, the purest love there is. The definition of the word “agape” is the love that God gives off to us. It is the selfless, unconditional love. We must learn how to use this love, so that what we do in our daily lives we don’t do it for our own pleasure, we do it for God and His eternal glory.
We humans must learn to love. Loving each other is how we get closer to God, it is how we ultimately go to heaven. I admit it is a very hard thing to do. It takes time, commitment and energy, but we can live and love at the same time. We don’t have to go out and necessarily “die” for our friends, but we can do the things we do daily with love. As Saint Mother Teresa said, “In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love."
God gave us His eternal love for a reason, so let’s not waste it. Let us go out into the world and become saints. Not for ourselves but for God and His glory.
God bless,
Antonio Tan
“I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.”
-Mother Teresa
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love”
-1 Corinthians 13:13