Editorial October 31, 1994 Issue

To be perfect in love

Richard C. Bergenheim

Sometimes words become so familiar they acquire a nonstick surface. Their significance doesn't really register in thought. Many a parent has complained to a child that some things simply go in one ear and out the other. This tends to happen to many of us with a lot of points that Jesus made in his Sermon on the Mount. It's important to be alert to this, for it retards spiritual growth and Christian healing.

Let's take an example. To some people Jesus' instruction to love our enemies, to be perfect in love, has just about become a cliché. We hear the words all the time, but people rarely consider the theological and spiritual import of the Master's words. He taught: "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven" (Matt. 5:43–45).

Sometimes the converse of a statement helps us recognize its significance. One could perhaps restate Jesus' point this way: "You cannot claim to be the children of God, His image and likeness, if you sidestep this demand to love. Nor can you reap the benefits of knowing yourself to be the likeness of divine Truth, Life, and Love, if you fail to express God's essential nature." Mary Baker Eddy captures the essential point of Jesus' instruction in this passage from Science and Health: "Love is impartial and universal in its adaptation and bestowals. It is the open fount which cries, 'Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters'" (p. 13).

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