That From Which All Virtue Flows
“Love God and do as you please” ~ Saint Augustine
With the revered Saint Augustine’s Feast Day on the docket next week, it seemed timely to dust off one of of his many ageless and memorable quotes.
But is this possible? Can we in fact love God and then subsequently do whatever we like? I think it is, and today’s Gospel (Matthew 22:35-40) shows us why.... and how.
When some Pharisees challenge Jesus to answer which commandment of the Law is the greatest, Jesus responds that every power, every fiber of our being must be given over to the love of God. He then goes on to say that “the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."
It would stand to reason that true love, especially that which is directed towards God, would exude obedience. Obedience in our desire to keep his laws, obedience in forgiving 70 x 7, obedience in the pursuit of his will. In addition, imitation comes into play as well. In essence we are to emulate his dearly beloved son, sent not only for the forgiveness of sins but to serve as the word made manifest, so that we can spread his message of joy, forgiveness and redemption through our words, our choices, our thoughts and our actions.
As we grow to understand just how much God loves us, and I don’t know that we can ever truly appreciate the fullness and richness with which God does indeed love us - not while still in our imperfect bodies and of the secular world anyway - it sheds some light on how he loves our neighbors as well. Imagine if we could see our neighbors through the loving lens that God sees them? How much different would our world be if we could?
So can we love God and do as we please? Absolutely, for as we grow in the spiritual gifts of wisdom, obedience, patience and yes, love, we will inevitably come to realize what doing as we please will simply become doing what is pleasing to God.
