We all need to be loved

There are a variety of reasons why this may be the case. Christmas is over and things can feel flat. Christmas may also be a painful reminder of recent bereavements or losses. New Year points forward, but that in itself may make us feel there is not much to look forward to.

We can all be affected by these things, but it is harder for some than others. It is harder if we are alone and do not have anyone to share our feelings with. It is harder if for some reason we are inclined to feel anxious or depressed.

Often at the bottom of all of this is our need to feel loved. When we are loved, we feel that we matter. When we are loved, we are helped to feel that we may not be so bad after all. When we are loved, we are helped to love back and feel that we too have something to give.

I am sure that this is what Jesus was trying to help his followers to do for one another. I am certain he did not intend to found the church as a bureaucratic ecclesiastical power structure.

Jesus' words and actions indicate that he was trying to create an inclusive community. Again and again he punctured his disciples' pride and challenged their desire for status. He befriended the outcast and the marginalised, and set great store on mutual forgiveness and reconciliation. There are indications that he sought to heal the divisions created by race, gender, age and disability that were so prevalent in his culture and time.

His commandment that we should 'love one another' was not a suggestion for our individual daily attitude towards others.

Despite our human inadequacies our churches do offer love. Our aim as Christians must be to continue to support each other in love, to welcome the unloved, that we all may know the love of God for each and every one of us, and thus act as a sign of that love in the world. -- The Rev Geoffrey Warren, St Andrew's Church, Watford.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.