Read Online
Increasing Your Capacity to Love
“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for
one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I
no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his
master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you
everything I have heard from my Father.” John 15:13–15
Is it possible to know everything that Jesus knows? Certainly not.
Yet, Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “I have told you everything I
have heard from my Father.” Jesus Himself is the full revelation of
the Father. Therefore, in Him we have been given perfect access to
the life of God. Even though God has revealed everything to us, we
are limited in our ability to receive it because we are finite
creatures. Nonetheless, our imperfect natures do not limit what
Jesus has told us from the Father.
By analogy, consider water. When we are thirsty, we drink a glass
of water. If we are very thirsty, we might drink several glasses.
However, we are limited in how much water we can consume in one
sitting. All that Jesus has revealed to us from the Father is like
an infinite ocean of grace. He doesn’t offer us only one glass or
even several. He offers us the ocean. Though He bestows it on us
fully, we are limited in what we can receive by our finite nature
and sin.
The goal of the Christian life is not to take one “sip” or “glass”
of grace. Our goal is to continuously increase our capacity for
receptivity. The greatest of saints spent their lives doing so. The
more grace they received, the greater their capacity, and the
greater their capacity, the more they received. Saint Teresa of
Ávila described this process as progressing through the “mansions”
of the interior castle, with each step drawing the soul closer to
union with God. Saint John of the Cross taught that detachment from
worldly attachments and the purification of the soul increase our
receptivity to God’s grace. Saint Thomas Aquinas explained that the
theological virtues, especially charity, expand the soul’s capacity
for divine love.
The presence of grace in any soul ensures that the soul will attain
Heaven upon death. However, the level of glory that each will
experience for eternity is determined by how much the soul’s
capacity for grace expands in this life. This capacity is built
through love. Jesus teaches, “No one has greater love than this, to
lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” The love of charity is the
process by which we lay down our lives for others. Jesus is not
only the source of such love, He is also the Model. His choice to
die on the Cross in His human nature exemplifies the kind of
sacrificial love we are called to embody.
That form of sacrificial charity can be difficult to comprehend and
live. Our fallen human nature tempts us toward selfishness. We can
easily become deceived into thinking that taking is better than
giving, being served is better than serving, and looking out for
ourselves is better than putting others before us. The only way out
of such deception is to enter into friendship with Jesus: “You are
my friends if you do what I command you.”
The freedom to love is found through obedience to God. Though we
cannot arrive at such obedience instantaneously, we can grow into
it through prayer, penance, and fidelity to His commands. What does
He command us to do? “This is my commandment: love one another as I
love you” (John 15:12). Jesus loved us by laying down His life for
us. In turn, we are called to lay down our lives for others. This
means thinking of others before ourselves, anticipating their true
needs, and working for their highest good—the salvation of their
souls.
Reflect today on how Christ’s infinite ocean of grace flows into
your life. What areas of selfishness or fear prevent you from
receiving more of His love? Commit to growing in charity by laying
down your life in concrete ways for those whom God has placed in
your path. Seek to imitate Jesus who calls you His friend and
shares everything with you that He has heard from the Father.
Remember His command: “Love one another as I love you.” The more
you love, the more your soul will expand, and the more you will
share in His eternal glory.
My infinite Lord, the depth of love within Your soul is
incomprehensible, yet You have revealed that love to us and invited
us to receive it. Please flood me with the gift of charity so that
I will not only share more fully in Your eternal glory, but so that
You will touch others through the charity You place within my
heart. Grant me the grace to embrace sacrificial love, laying down
my life for others as You laid down Your life for me. Jesus, I
trust in You.
Deus Caritas Est by Lawrence OP, license CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Source: Free RSS feed from catholic-daily-reflections.com —
Copyright 2026 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. This
content is provided solely for personal, non-commercial use.
Redistribution, republication, or commercial use — including use
within apps with advertising — is strictly prohibited without
written permission.
Kommentare (0)
Melde dich an, um einen Kommentar zu schreiben.