The most common symbol of the Roman Catholic Church is the crucifix
In Roman Catholicism, the crucifix follows the design put forth in the Latin tradition. This tradition is to include in the front of the crucifix a corpus or the body of the Lord Jesus Christ as he makes the ultimate sacrifice to cleanse mankind of sin. This emphasis on Christ’s death shows God’s ultimate love for his creation. The act of crucifixion was God’s agape.
Agape is what we call the kind of love that is defined as “the love of God for man” it is also what we call “man’s love for God. It is often considered the highest form of love and charity. This ultimate love of God can show from different places and in different kinds. For example, this ultimate love of God in Lisare’s book shows up in an anecdote about how the author of the book overcomes challenges while using this same love as inspiration. In the book, Lisare overcame her crippling fear and low self-esteem by having a rewarding nursing job while also being a minister for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
God’s act of agape is something he did out of his love for us. It was not forced out of him; it was not done because it was his responsibility. For all we know, he could have released another plague or another flood to wipe out humanity and make the slate clean; however, he did not do all those things because he made a promise to Noah and, by extension, a promise to humankind. Isn’t it only right that we show that we appreciate his love and love him too?
The best way to let God know how much we love him is through the Bible? So what does the Bible say about loving him?
Knowing God shows we Love Him.
This one is a no-brainer. To love someone means to appreciate something about them. It might be the way they talk or simply the way they are. The first thing to appreciate something is, of course, to know him. The same is true with God. Using the Bible as a baseline for knowing him, we take the first step towards loving him.
Spending Time with God is to Love Him
Whenever we love someone, we want to be with them. After all, it takes love to appreciate someone’s company. Spending time with someone, especially quality time, is among the most tasteful way of showing your love. After all, the gift that you are giving is the gift of time. It is something you can never get back. Spending time with someone, especially voluntary time, basically says, “I could be anywhere else in the world, doing whatever it is that I am doing, but instead, I choose to be here with you.”
Such a sentiment is the same with God. In a time where there is a huge decline in church attendance, Any time spent with God is already a sacrifice, and this is a sacrifice that he appreciates a lot. After all, churches and congregations only exist so long as there are believers. By volunteering your time and spending it with God through mass, prayer, or volunteerism, you are saying that you love God so much that it is worth giving some of your time to him.
Obeying God means Loving Him.
A Church, and by extension, can only survive so long as there are people who believe in what they preach. Obeying is a word that may be too daunting to listen to, but it doesn’t mean to obey in the normal sense. Instead, to obey here is to follow the teachings God, and by extension, his Church, has preached and taught to its followers. Doing so shows the world that we love God so much that we are willing to follow his example. No matter how out of date or out of fashion these are.
These are not the only ways of showing God how much you love him back. However, these are some of the simplest ways. Simply following the Bible, prayer, and belief in him goes a long way toward giving back his love. Even though you might not know or feel it, it is there.
The Damsel’s Files 