Saturday, June 29, 2002
Saturday, June 29, 2002
"I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved
you, you also should love one another."
Harlow demonstrated that love is a learned phenomenon years ago in an experiment that
every first year psychology student is exposed to. He used baby monkeys and artificial
mothers constructed out of wire and cloth. He discovered that baby monkeys deprived of a
mother's love were not able to love either. Subsequent studies have generalized this result to
people. We love because we are loved.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him
may not perish but may have eternal life."
(John 13.34
NRSV)
Jesus says, "As I have loved you, love also one another." If you took all the psychology texts,
boiled them down to their essential truths and from that extensive effort sought to produce one
statement about the character of man that would be the most profound statement ever
uttered, you could not improve on this simple statement. "As I have loved you, love also one
another." Most authorities tell us that we learn to love by being loved. Just as the abused child
may become an abuser, a loved child learns to express affection.
Dear God, thank you very much for loving me. Help me to love as you love. Amen.
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