You Can't Make Me!

Fr. Thomas Williams, in his  book A Heart Like His, very wisely points out that God "can move mountains, change tides, and create and destroy universes--but he cannot make us love him." That's right. God can do anything but force us to love Him, follow Him, or have faith in Him. He gave us the free will to decide who, or what, we love.

It's interesting. The only thing God asks from us, the only thing he wants from us is our love: "'Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?' He said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'" (Matthew 22:36-37) God, our loving Father, wants more than anything else for us to love Him. It is His greatest, His only, desire. Yet, He can't take it from us. He can't force us to love Him.

So, do I give my love to God. My first thought is "YES! Of course I love God. I'm a good Catholic. I pray. I go to Mass. I read the bible. I follow the 10 Commandments...at least I try to." Upon further reflection, I realize that although my words say that I love God, my actions are often quite the opposite.

Loving God with all my heart,  soul, and mind means so much more than praying, going to Mass, and trying to follow the 10 Commandments. Loving God fully, as He wants us to, means complete and total surrender. It means surrendering our whole will, our whole lives to Him. It means I put my love for God ahead of my love of chocolate. It means I love God more than I love my wife, my children, my comforts. God can't make me love Him more than I love my things, but if I truly want to be happy, if I want to be at peace in my life, then He needs to be my first love.