Love is the root to living the life of a Christian steward

By SHANNON ROH
For The Catholic Week
God is madly in love with each one of us! Naturally, love is the fundamental root to living the life of a Christian steward. Everything that God does for us He does out of love for us. God displayed His perfect and unconditional love for us through the gift of His only Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus provided the perfect example of how to live the life of a Christian steward. Scripture tells us to follow His examples. “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 14: 34-35). 
Imitating God's love for us is no easy task. Our human nature makes it nearly impossible. In fact it is only possible when we recognize and accept God’s love for us and lean on Him throughout the journey. When we are open to receiving the gift of God’s love, we are so filled with His abundant love for us that we are able to return that love in an amazing way. This love allows us to surpass our human nature leading us to dedicate our time, talent and treasure to carrying out God’s work here on earth.
In St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians we are reminded to “…Serve one another through love . . . bear one another’s burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal 5:13, 6:2) 
Jesus was clearly passionate about love, so much so that 
He declared love the greatest of all commandments. 
St. Matthew and St. Mark recount Jesus’ response when asked by a scribe what is the greatest commandment: “He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” (Matthew 22:37-39) & (Mark 12:29-31) The call or command to love is not about a feeling or emotion, it is about the decision to love and obey God. 
The same love that God has for us can be seen every day when a Christian steward responds to God’s call to imitate Christ in His love for others. God is love, therefore love is the foundation of stewardship. Happy Valentine’s Day! 
­­— Shannon Roh is the Executive Director of the Office of Development and Stewardship for the Archdiocese of Mobile.