By Collegiate Search Youth Organization
Can we find Heaven here on earth if all of us who proclaim to be Christians are doing God’s will? I often think to myself why is there so much temporal suffering, if Christians all over the world are practicing the most basic commandments given to us by God which is to Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength (Mark 12:30-31). The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these. It seems to me if we truly love God according to his commandments, we will be more easily transformed to true spiritual beings. According to the Bible, the fruits of the spirits is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). A true spiritual being live out love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. All our decisions and actions will be based on pleasing Him and no one else. As a result of a strong and true love for God, we are able to love our neighbors as oneself because the love we have to please God will penetrate our lives. This will allow us to open our hearts and minds to do God’s will. God’s will in my opinion is to spread love and the other fruits of the spirits to everyone we meet. However, love is the greatest gift of all the fruits of the spirits. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not honor others, it is not self-seeking, it does not easily anger, and it keeps no record of wrong. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. (1 Corinthian 13:4-7).
Yes, we are called to spread love to those who are homeless, hungry and those that have special needs in this world. The ones the world has seemed to have forgotten and oppressed. The ways in which we spread love to everyone we meet will vary from person to person. God’s calls us to serve Him in different ways. For example, some people are called to serve those who are hungry. Some people without the true spirit of Christ may judge them and attribute their ability to feed themselves to other reasons. They may not consider that they may be hungry because they have recently lost their job or the job they do have may not afford them the opportunity provide a roof over their head and eat every day. Or possibly they were born in a part of the world that ration their food or oppress some men and women making it difficult for them to find a decent job or educate themselves. However, when these people are blessed to know one of God’s children, they will be fed. Also, people are losing their homes everyday or becoming refugees trying to escape their negative situation. Some people may turn their backs on these people and think this is not my problem. If we are called to love God and our neighbor does it become our problem if we are able to help them? Can these people find Heaven here on this earth when these people encounter a child of God? These people if they do will be sheltered. These are just two examples of ways God’s children have a great opportunity to make a big impact and to demonstrate our love for God and our neighbor.
Doing God’s will is not only about spreading love, but obeying God. It is not about doing what we want, but doing what God asks of us. This part of doing God’s will may be challenging if we are not constantly praying and reading the Bible-developing a strong relationship with God because what God asks us to do may not feel like the most natural thing to do. We will serve others because we are spiritually led to please God and to serve His creations. If we serve God with everything in our hearts and minds, this world will know God’s children and they will provide Heaven here on earth.