Title: Happiness in the Hands
Gospel of John (80) Happiness in your hands (John 13:31-38)
< The new commandment given by the Lord >
He is strengthening the famous Darakbang in John 14-16. Darakbang Ganghwa is the words of the Lord’s will before he died, and the first word he spoke before he began in earnest is the famous text verses 34-35. “I give you a new commandment: Love one another, love one another as I have loved you. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” The most powerful sign of the disciples of the early church was ‘love’.
“Love one another!” means to love the people close to you first. How great is it to love each other? To love each other is to do great things, and to be great personalities. It is a great thing for a mother-in-law to love her daughter-in-law, and it is a great thing for a daughter-in-law to love her mother-in-law. It is a great thing to love each other between east and west.
When we work together and a colleague next door gets promoted alone, there are probably not many people who will be grateful. It's okay if someone you don't know gets promoted, but if someone close to you gets promoted, I can't stand it any longer. So loving your neighbor is harder and it's great if you can do it. Now try the great thing again. If you try to be loved, you will be unhappy, but if you try to give love to each other, you will be happy. Unhappiness and happiness are unexpectedly in your hands.
< The biggest problem is the lack of love >
There was a woman. She had a husband who could not get married due to difficult circumstances and had lived with her for 12 years. One day, my husband was sentenced to death for liver cancer. The surgery time had passed, and I went through the procedures for discharge because there was no hope anymore. After recuperating at home for a while, I went back to the emergency room after a month or so, and after that, about three weeks later, I got a call from the hospital to the restaurant where she works, saying, “You have only a few days left, so be discharged!”
She cried out in front of the hospital elevator. I wiped away my tears and immediately thought of this. “My husband is going to die soon, so will there be any last gifts?” Then I had this thought. “Well, we never got married.” My husband sometimes said “I need to get married soon.” She felt that the wedding was the last gift she could give her husband. I thought it would be absurd not to do the work that would make my husband the most happy, since in a few days I would not be able to see him in this world forever.
I talked about that thought to my husband and prepared the wedding. My husband's co-workers, taxi drivers, prepared it like their own. The wives of co-workers prepared the food, and the president of the transportation company officiated, and the wedding was held in two days.
The wedding turned into a sea of tears. As she entered holding her brother-in-law's hand, she saw the groom's flat face and burst into tears. Even the guests did not see the scene and bowed their heads and sobbed. So, 38 hours after the wedding, my husband died. After that, whenever I feel lonely and difficult, I take out the album and see my husband on the wedding day, and it is said that he feels mysterious power and happiness.
Why is there no happiness? Could the lack of happiness be because there was no true love and sacrifice, or is it because you are only willing to receive and not to give? If there is any unhappiness, be humble to realize that the cause of the unhappiness is also very much your own responsibility and that the biggest problem is your lack of love. Then God will surely overflow him with mysterious grace, love, and happiness.
The people of the world do not recognize that they are disciples of Jesus when they see worship and prayer, but recognize them as disciples of Jesus because of their love (verse 36). After all, love is the biggest factor that opens the door to someone's heart. Now save the love of even your enemies. Not criticizing is a valuable virtue, but if you live your life in such a passive and defensive manner, you will not be able to score a goal of happiness. You can score a goal of happiness when you love and live as an aggressive attacking type. Now, by loving each other, let's be happy souls who live and enjoy the happiness in our hands.