To Know, Love, and Serve

                Last time, we discussed what the Church can offer to people that they actually need, namely, a purpose. This time, we’ll discuss what it looks like when that purpose is lived out. There were three aspects of that purpose, to know God, to love God, and to serve God in this life.

           
    First, to know God. This is where thousands upon thousands of people are failing in their daily life. They know nothing of God, have never opened a Bible, and probably haven’t seen the inside of a church in twenty years. This is a problem. When knowing God is properly lived out, it will inevitably lead people home to the Catholic Church. Why? Because to know God means to begin to think about theology. It means to begin to consider the Bible. It means there is a necessity to read the Bible at some point in your life (you knew that was coming). And you should never do this alone. Why? Because reading the Bible alone leads to questions. Questions that you yourself will not be able to answer. There are two ways to deal with that. First, you can make up an answer and ignore the question, pretend it isn’t important, and hope nobody ever asks you about it, or two, you can look it up and see what other people throughout history have thought of the same questions. This approach will lead to the Church Fathers eventually, the men who personally knew the men who wrote the New Testament. These men give distinctly Catholic responses to just about every question in the Bible.

                To know God does not require a degree in theology. It doesn’t even require a class in theology. It means you open up the Bible to read it and have a friend or priest you can go to when you have questions, or friends to study with. However, to k
now God is only a part of the solution.

                Second in that list is to love God. This is the one that people have the hardest time with. It’s simple enough to be a nice person, and it’s not incredibly difficult to learn what the right and wrong answers are, but to actually form a relationship with a person is the step that most people in the world have a problem with. This means forming an active prayer life. And no, saying an Our Father when you’re having a bad day doesn’t count.

Think about your best friend. How did you become friends? You talked to each other. Think about someone you trust with your secrets. How did they gain your trust? You started telling them things. It’s the same way with God. You can’t just ignore Him and hope that somehow, you’ll magically end up best friends and life will be easy. That’s not quite how it works. At all. It takes time, patience, and perseverance. No, you won’t always get obvious answers back. No, it won’t always be easy. But be consistent. To love God is to begin to fill that infinite hole in your heart we discussed earlier.

                Finally, to serve God. This is the point most of the world can agree on. Nobody has a problem with being a good person most of the time. Except it’s harder than that. Because to serve God means to serve God ALWAYS. That’s not easy. That’s not always fun. But it is important. As a life of virtue grows in you, it becomes easier to serve God’s will. And this is why it becomes important to know and love God. It’s rather difficult to do the right thing when you don’t know what the right thing IS. Enter the study of God to form your conscience and tell you right from wrong. To love God is to make the burden of serving him easier. Why? Because instead of slaving away for some high and mighty person somewhere off in the theoretical distance, you are doing works of love for a friend you are willing to care for.

                To know, love, and serve God. That is the purpose of life. Next time, we'll continue the series on love by discussing some passages of Scripture.