LIVE A LIFE OF GIVING LOVE

Human beings encounter various adversities in the course of their lives. I mean, humans undergo soul training as they live their lives. This actually has been predetermined. What are these difficulties? They are, simply put, illness, poverty, and setbacks. Also included are heartbreaks, business failures, broken friendships, and separation from loved ones. One may also encounter someone one dislikes. Furthermore, people grow old, lose their looks, lose the ability of their body control and functions, and eventually die.

If we look at these phenomena only as they appear, life may seem to be filled with distress and sorrow. However, there is a meaning to our distress and sorrow; they urge us to make a choice. By choice, I mean that each one of us must choose between a life of giving or one of being given.

The essence of love is in giving. To love is to share what God has given to us with others, rather than just keeping it ourselves. The love of God is infinite. No matter how much love we give to others, there is no limit because God has been supplying us with love.

The essence of love is, first and foremost, to give. Please understand this point well.

Those who are suffering from love, listen well. Why do you suffer? Why do you suffer from love? Why do you suffer by giving love to others? Do not expect anything in return. Expecting something in return is not true love. True love is love that gives. Love that gives is unconditional love. The love you give is not yours to begin with; your love is the love given to you by God. We should love other people in order to return this love to God.

The cause of your suffering lies in the belief that, although you love someone, he or she does not love you. No, it is not that the other person does not love you. You might think you are not loved as much as you had hoped. That is why people become distressed by love. But the reward for your love comes not from other people, but from God.

What is the reward that comes from God? It is that the more you give love, the more you become like God. That is the reward from God. Look at the true nature of God. He provides infinite love and mercy to all creatures without asking for anything in return, just as the sun showers its light brightly onto us. Even the life of each and every one of you is the energy given to you by God, and this did not cost you anything.

This being so, start off by giving. Giving means to live every day thinking of ways to make as many people as possible happy. It means to shine the light of love onto the minds of as many wanderers as possible. It is also to help as many people as possible recover from the difficulties and setbacks of life, and to help them live their everyday lives in wisdom and courage.

From "The Laws of the Sun" by Ryuho Okawa