The school of engineering will soon find out if it will be
the proud academic abode of the next guild president of Makerere University in
today’s Guild polls in what is seen by many as an opportunity for science and
technology students to adventure and set sail on the political scene previously
dominated by social and political scientists, lawyers and economists et el.
The fact that the school of engineering boasts of six
contenders for the position of GRC where only two persons are required to
represent the constituency in the August house is an indication that interest
is greatly shifting to the previously shunned political leadership
Makerere University has positioned itself as one of the best
universities in Africa in the recent past with the web-metrics survey
indicating an upward improvement to the 8th best university in Africa, and
if the recent hub of innovation is something to go by, its College of
Engineering, Design, Art and Technology is only second to none in fostering
innovation, invention and human resource enrichment, an ingredient that is
greatly lacking in many of the graduands churned out from many Ugandan
universities.
Makerere Engineering Society has registered tremendous
success in linking students to the outside world through exhaustive campaigns
to widely market the students however the efficacy of some of these policies
need to be re-thought
MES AFTERNOONS
These social interactive sessions organized in the
conference hall were like a breath of fresh air on a hot afternoon, sections of
all engineering students would assembly to engage in discussions and listen to
keynote speakers while being entertained and refreshed at the same time, but
the occurrence of these famous afternoons is as rare as seeing Professor
Baryamureba on campus these days
PROJECT FUNDING
Last term at the CEDAT open day complains arose out of the
manner in which the then project coordinator financially supported student
projects, in some instances a mean looking gentleman would walk over to your
project site at the tent and ask an exhibitor how much the project cost and
would then proceeded to hand them any amount prescribed at their discretion.
ENGINEERING JOURNAL
Many student projects vanish in thin air moments after
exhibition, this calls for a forum that will serve as a platform for showcasing
the numerous skills and techniques transformed from theoretical knowledge
obtained in class, therefore an engineering journal or magazine would come in
handy and this would be a positive step towards marketing the engineering brand
of Makerere university
The plight of an engineering student who subscribes to the
society is highlighted in our non ceasing desire to see the best service
directed towards the students cause and whoever is interested in any leadership
in the society whether it being at the helm or in the lower echelons should be
able to harmonize their position with the needs and expectations of the student
they serve
Furthermore the leadership should be made more and easily
accessible as well as accountable to encourage dialogue and interaction or else
we will always roar with one voice ‘we will take back our MES’
There is an old African proverb which says that when a man dips his
fingers to the bottom of a bowl, he is not looking for soup but for something
else, That African saying conforms to the fact that the frogs leaping in our
backyards don’t come to sing our children bedtime lullabies but escaping from
what they may perceive as a dangerous threat to their habitant, the number of
amphibians has increased drastically from my freshmen days to today around the
dwellings of kikoni and what captivates me is that we don’t give them a fair
hearing or perhaps listen attentively to their croaky complaints.
Whereas I might have had an opportunity to grow up around
the ‘Kinyarwanda’ swamps in Entebbe and had a beautiful experience as children,
we would hunt for lung fish in the swamp mud, then go on an expeditious
collection spree of rare and nutritious assortment of fruits growing at the
swamp edges, before returning home with full burgeoning stomachs heaping
praises on our adventurous nature, this trend is no more among the kids in that
area because the ‘Kinyarwanda’ swamp is eaten up by semi-permanent houses
cropping up at supersonic speed , It can
be argued that toads and frogs of our childhood days had strong energetic
croaks than their relatives of today, I don’t have the scientific facts but for
those of you that have lived long enough can bear me witness.
In my kikoni abode just off the dirty stream of water that
wells from the slums of Nakulabye through the swampy areas just after the new
grand global hotel and the kikoni police post through a labyrinth of
complicated housing units passing under the refurbished kikoni-kasubi road all
the way to the swamps below Lady Nafisa hostel is a revelation of an ecosystem
failure where species of all kinds especially the water dwelling are struggling
to cope up with the increasing population pressure exerted by humans
consequently affecting their natural habitant.
Sometimes when the rains fall, many a village farmer will be
exhilarated at the prospect of resuming their usual farming schedules but don’t
tell that to a dweller in bwaise, at that time of the year the media is awash
with news of flooding and collapse of structures due to water movements around
the kawempe bwaise areas, this unfriendliness of the water which lead to
humorists coining yet another moniker ‘water is life only if you don’t live in
bwaise’ has been attributed to the rampant settlement in swampy areas leading
to the distortion of the water flow pattern and thus flooding.
I believe this is time to increase societies moral
obligation towards the environment right from elementary schools for instance
the context of learning in our educational institutions should change to make
the environment an integral part of the normal teaching in all the subjects
from secondary all through university rather than as an isolated course unit in
a university program for environmental and engineering students. The environment
provides the basis for life and is a major determinant of the quality of life
and therefore it should be part of all education so that all citizens
understand that we are an integral part of nature and that we co-exist with all
the other species in the biosphere.
Practices such as trashing in public facilities or damping
in streams and wetlands and even construction of structures in wetlands can be
avoided in future by educating the younger generation on environment related
issues.
The National Environment Management Authority(N.E.M.A) on
the bigger part should be capacitated to indiscriminately prevent would be
settlers in the swamps from doing so and if the so called investor as many
would love to call them refuse to heed NEMA’S guidance should have their
structures abolished and the wetlands re-gazzeted, or even prosecute offenders
this way the country may increase the quality of life of its citizens, improve
on the environment and most importantly energize our ambitions to becoming a
first world country by 2050 after all first world countries take good care of
the environment, don’t they?
The project to reclaim the lost green cover from greedy patrons
of this country needs a deliberate intervention from the government and all
stake holders, appointing a serious executive officer at NEMA who will employ a
no no-sense attitude towards enforcing policy, who will always be accountable
to the appointing authority and will not bow to pressure at all times,
otherwise Madam Jenifer Musisi has set precedence and in so doing we will be
giving our amphibian neighbor’s a hope
of a bright new era, who knows we will not need to send our grand-children to
the Wild Life Education Centre (zoo) to see frogs and toads in just 100 years
from now.
On Monday after a tip off from one lecturer, the
police raided the senate which is the highest academic decision making body of
Makerere University and arrested two academic registrar’s employees for fraud,
tempering with students marks and alteration of academic documents, word has it
that a certain lecturer while going about his business in town bumped into a
former student who hadfailed some core
courses in a comfy office, the lecture knowing that no one would be employed to
do that job without a good class of degree smelt a rat, a fat one at that and decided
to cross check his records to see if the re-known student had passed the
courses they picked retakes in, to his chagrin the student had not passed and
was not qualified for graduation and immediately blew the whistle.
The police later on realized that students conspired
with the officials in the senate to alter marks on the former’s transcripts
before graduation at a fee, according to information I obtained from friends
who I would not name, it is most likely that the entire process of reversing
your grade could cost one million Uganda shillings or less.
The average cost of educating a university graduate
in Uganda stands a staggering seven zero figure, at the college of engineering
design art and technology a student pursuing an engineering degree parts with
about three million shillings tuition only in a year and for the four years
they are studying their course they would have paid close to thirteen million
only tuition and functional fees neglecting the cost of feeding, accommodation,
academic secretarial work, scholastic materials to mention but a few.
The grading system in Makerere is such that any
marks obtained below 50 is a failure and necessitates a retake, the time
required to prepare for a course and write and pass examinations with a grade
of at least 70% is immense and that plainly speaking is no mean feat, and if I
chanced on an opportunity to have my grades changed to only A’s and B’s I would
have no whims at all, after all everyone in the country does the same, from
learnt professors to laymen.
I would rather part with about seven million to have
a first class university degree in Business Administration and save myself from
the stress that comes with writing seemingly trivial tests, the unproductive
time while commuting from my kikoni abode to the overcrowded class room at
COBAMS, then I would seek for a job and thereafter enroll for a short
certificate course if necessary for my job and earn my monthly hefty sums while
my colleagues are left sprawling the university in pursuit for their hard
earned degrees, I am quite sure companies do not conduct back ground checks on
their employees that way I may be able to survive on my job without any trouble
after all almost everybody in the country at any one moment has tried to earn a
living by dubious and thieving methods, from government officials, bank
executives, restaurateurs, students and even taxi conductors.
My greatest disappointment comes in at the failure
by the university authorities to organize a press conference to do a public
image campaign aimed at re furbishing the much tainted image of the Harvard of
Africa, sacking the Academic registrar or even the vice chancellor academics
taking responsibility of the blame otherwise the world over would have a
derailed perspective of the ivory tower as a training ground for dishonest,
lazy and uninspired graduates who lack the capacity to create an impact in
their respective areas of study.
Comrade you know how hard it is to come to study at
Makerere university, you spent quite a number of barrels of midnight oil to
peddle the ivory tower dream, you shunned quite a lot of those night clubs
drink-ups and studied really hard to make it to the epitome of the intellectual
pyramid and yet realize that is even easier at times if you can teach yourself
how to do things the Makerere way, so why are you still studying hard after
knowing there is light at the end of the tunnel, maybe because you are one of
the few people left in this our country who appreciate the price of hard work
and believe in the thrill of honest achievement.
In line with the College of Engineering,Design,Art and Technology's college registrar’s letter dated 24th September 2012 in which he
stated that all private sponsored students in the college where to complete
payments of 60% of their tuition before the end of this month that is September
for them to be eligible to undertake tests and continuous assessment tests,I find the greatest compelling force to write to your my dear friend.
With great
disappointment i clutch my pen between by sweaty fingers and i pull out my old Budget book that contains Dr.Bennie Mangeni's ICT summaries and search through until i find some empty pages to vent my frustration on,The private students fraternity in the college condemns in unequivocal terms
the discrimination exhibited at this award winning college of the great
Makerere University considering the fact that students at other colleges namely
CoBAMS ,Health sciences etc continue to write their tests and continuous
assessment without any whims.
The majority of the
students in the university are privately sponsored students who rely on their
parents and relations for tuition to pursue their studies, this move will be a
pain in the neck of the students because this is a time when many parents are
struggling to keep up with soaring prices in a pretty doggy economy.
The guild president in
his earlier communications to the student body stated that the new vice
chancellor professor Ddumba Ssentamu had okayed the idea of putting the 60%
tuition policy on hold for this semester as it was found out that the policy
was enacted in 2005 not last year contrary to popular belief. Makerere University has
time immemorial offered its students a great chance to exercise their freedoms
and liberties and it is in this regard that we find it necessary to clench our
fists in great opposition towards this callous discrimination therefore we do
hope the college conducts itself in complete harmony with the rest of the
university because it is not an autonomous institution from Makerere University.
The news that the Chancellor had appointed an understanding senile Professor to preside over the Makerere populance was like a sigh of relief to me, I hurriedly kept my ears open for as long as i had the news anchor at K-fm read that 'Dumba was the new Baryamureba' but this time around iam beginning to regret why instead of solve physics puzzles I was eagerly waiting to hear that news. Friend with the changing tides, I am afraid the university will come out tough next term though and hit us perennial late payers like a hungry villager smash a mosquito feeding on his skinny flesh.
The
guest of honour, Members of parliament, District officials, Business community,
civil servants and private practioners, MASU members ladies and gentlemen you
are most welcome
I
congratulate all the fresh men and women who have been admitted in Makerere
University this year and all the continuing students for their successes in
various fields of study and avenues of life
I would
like to start my deliberations with a short story about the very popular
proverb ‘reaping what you sow’
Once upon
a time, an emperor in the Far East was growing old and knew it was
time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his assistants or his
children, he decided something different.
He called young people in the
kingdom together one day. He said, "It is time for me to step down and
choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you."
The kids were shocked! But the
emperor continued. "I am going to give each one of you a seed today, one
very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it and come back here
one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then
judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next
emperor!"
One boy named Ling was there that
day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and planted the seed
and watered it carefully.
Every day he would water it and
watch to see if it had grown. After about 3 weeks, some of the other youths
began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.
Ling kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 5 weeks
went by. Still nothing.
6 months went by; Everyone else had
trees and tall plants, but he had nothing.He just kept waiting for his seed to
grow. A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their
plants to the emperor for inspection.
Ling told his mother that he wasn't
going to take an empty pot but his Mother said he must be honest about what
happened. Ling felt sick to his stomach, but he knew his Mother was right.
He took his empty pot to the palace.
When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other
youths. They were beautiful, in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on
the floor and many of the other kinds laughed at him.
When the emperor arrived, he
surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide in the
back. "My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown," said
the emperor. "Today, one of you will be appointed the next emperor!"
All of a sudden, the emperor spotted
Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring
him to the front. Ling was terrified. "The emperor knows I'm a failure!
Maybe he will have me killed!"
When Ling got to the front, the
Emperor asked his name. "My name is Ling," he replied. All the kids
were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to quiet down.
He looked at Ling, and then
announced to the crowd, "Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!"
Ling couldn't believe it. Ling couldn't even grow his seed. How could he be the
new emperor?
Then the emperor said, "One
year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant
it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds,
which would not grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought me trees and plants
and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted
another seed for the one I gave you.
Ling was the only one with the
courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the
one who will be the new emperor!"
If you plant honesty, you will reap
trust.
If you plant goodness, you will reap friends.
If you plant humility, you will reap greatness.
If you plant perseverance, you will reap victory.
If you plant hard work, you will reap success.
If you plant patience, you will reap improvements.
If you plant faith, you will reap miracles.
But:
If you plant dishonesty, you will
reap distrust.
If you plant selfishness, you will reap loneliness.
If you plant bitterness, you will reap isolation.
If you plant gossip, you will reap enemies.
If you plant worries, you will reap wrinkles.
If you ask most people what is their
one major objective in life, they would probably give you a vague answer, such
as, "I want to be successful, be happy, earn a great university degree,"
and that is it. They are all wishes, here are some of the ways we would achieve
a successful life around campus
Live a focused life
On the best sunny day, the most
powerful magnifying glass will not light paper if you keep moving the glass.
But if you focus and hold it, the paper will light up. That is the power of
concentration.
Have
a goal
Suppose you have all the football
eleven players, enthusiastically ready to play the game, all charged up, and
then someone took the goal post away. What would happen to the game? There is
nothing left. How do you keep score? How do you know you have arrived?
Goals
must be smart
S--must be specific. For example,
"I want to get a first class degree." This is wishful thinking. It
becomes a goal when I pin myself down to "I will get a first class degree
by earning a course grade of 80 and above always."M--must be measurable.
If we cannot measure it, we cannot accomplish it. Measurement is a way of
monitoring our progress.
A--must be achievable. Achievable means that it should be out of reach enough
to be challenging but it should not be out of sight, otherwise it becomes
disheartening.
R—must be realistic. A person who wants to lose 50 pounds in 30 days is being
unrealistic.
T—must be time-bound. There should be a starting date and a finishing date
Know
where you are going/want to be
A man was traveling and stopped at
an intersection. He asked an elderly man, "Where does this road take
me?" The elderly person asked, "Where do you want to go?" The
man replied, "I don't know." The elderly person said “Then take any
road. What difference does it make?" When we don't know where we are
going, any road will take us there.
Don’t be pulled down by what others
say
So you have tried something and you have failed numerous
times. You may have been told you have no talent, aren't cut out for "this
business" or are never going to "make it in this line of
work"The vice president of Columbia pictures told actor Harrison Fordthat
he was never going to make it in the business, John Grisham’s first book was
rejected by 12 publishing houses and sixteen agents, The Beatles were turned
down by a recording company saying "We don't like their sound and guitar
music is on the way out" , Charles Darwin was told by his father that he
would amount to nothing and be a disgrace to himself and his family , Walt
Disney was fired from a newspaper because he "lacked imagination and had
no original ideas" , Thomas Edison was told by a teacher he was "too
stupid to learn anything" , Winston Churchill failed the sixth grade , Albert
Einstein wasn't able to speak until he was almost 4 years old and his teachers
said he would "never amount to much" , Isaac Newton did poorly in
school and failed at running the family farm, F. W. Woolworth was not allowed
to wait on customers in the store he worked in because "he didn't have
enough sense"
Stop thinking tiny thoughts
It is not
what you are that is holding you back in life,it is what you think you are
not,it is what is going on in your inner life that is preventing you from
having all that you want
We are
afraid to dream bigger dreams and do the things we fear we lose our vision and
spend the rest of our days in limited zones of movement
Too many
people lead very small lives, most of the limitations that hold you back from
your dreams are self-imposed so stop thinking tiny thought and dream big for a
change in west nile
Increase your value.
When you
graduate and get a job or create your own job,the wages or any form of
compensation derived will not depend on how hard you work but on how much value
you add to the world around you
As a
prospective engineer if I get employed after school and I get paid five million
Ugandan shillings, I get this money not because I drove to work 30 days but
because I have added five million worth of perceived value in 30 days
Monetary
reward you receive is determined not by how long you work but by how much value
you add
A
Makerere university trained medical doctor may not be better and smarter than a
Kisekka market steel welder, but because the doctor has accumulated specialized
knowledge than a steel welder and there are only a few people who can do what
he does so he is considered more valuable in the market place
Develop your talents
Even the
weakest among the humans has a gift that is unique and when used well will be a
blessing to human kind
There’s
an abundance of potential and ability waiting to be awakened within us if we
will only allow it to see the light of day
If you
don’t use the best within you to its fullest capacity then you are doing
yourself,the world and those within it who would have benefitted from your
unique talents a disservice
Love your course
The most
successful people in history lived satisfying lives because they loved what
they did, I know of some student from westnile that got admitted in Makerere University
to study Bachelor of Arts in Arts and while in second year he quit on admission
that he didn’t like his course, he wanted something else
Be inspired
Being
filled with a deep sense of inspiration and commitment to making a difference
in the world is an important attribute of success
When you
level of inspiration is below what you know it should be,start spending time
with people who are passionate about what they are doing in their lives
I know
of some man who scored 40 in ordinary level but after advanced level he had got
24 points and got admitted to Makerere University, he didn’t do that without a
dose of inspiration
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." Matthew 13:43-45
In one of the dusty Kampala suburbs,It's a common scenario to see young boys in their tens carrying heavy sacks stacked with metallic items ranging from aluminum kettles of old,to used saucepans,cutlery and utensils,they scan the ground in pursuit for these items which they later on sell at a fee to the metal merchants,who later sell them to engineering industries to be recycled into new metallic elements,To the young stars,they perceive their findings as a treasure hidden in the ground.
In our days, we can store treasure in the bank or in a safe deposit box,or invest it in real estate or in investment instruments such as bonds and stocks,but in the early years of our Lord Jesus, burying treasure was an extremely common way of safeguarding it,burying a treasure was the most secure way of protecting it. One's treasure might have been stolen by thieves or plundered by foreign invading armies. But if it were hidden skillfully,rarely it would be detected.
But people often died in such invasions or passed on without disclosing the location of the treasure to a relative. In that case, a hoard of coins or jewels buried in a pottery jar might be discovered that would make its finder rich. Today people dream of getting rich by winning the lottery, but ancient literature is full of stories of people finding buried treasure and becoming fabulously wealthy.
Jesus' story along this theme would have captured the imagination of his listeners.
In Jesus' story, a man found the treasure in a rural field,-Perhaps he was employed as a laborer and his plow hit the container. Or perhaps erosion had uncovered a portion of the treasure. We just don't know.
But when the man finds the treasure he is overcome with joy. He buries the treasure again so that no one else can find it. Then he sells everything he has and buys the field.
The honesty exhibited by this man who picked the treasure baffles me to this day,apparently,according to rabbinical law, it might have been possible to claim ownership of personal property that had been found on another's land,the man bearing the law in his mind,didn't take the treasure, but reburied it to hide and protect it, and then purchased the land,possibly the original owner of the treasure had died decades or centuries before but if this man wanted he would have taken the treasure without any one ever finding out,this therefore brings to the fore the importance of Jesus teaching on this subject. There are two keys to understanding this parable:
"In his joy..." and "sold all he had and bought that field."
Jeremias observes:
"When that great joy, surpassing all measure, seizes a man, it carries him away, penetrates his inmost being, subjugates his mind. All else seems valueless compared with that surpassing worth. No price is too great to pay."
In the parable, the man's joy is in his good fortune of finding a huge treasure that will possibly make him rich for life. Anything he spends to gain possession of that treasure is worth it, since the value is so exceedingly much greater. The emphasis here is on the importance of parting ways with everything we have and own in order to obtain something inestimably greater.
The Kingdom of Heaven is more valuable than anything else we can have, and a person must be willing to give up everything to obtain it. The man who discovered the treasure in the field stumbled upon it by accident but knew its value when he found it.
The treasure of the kingdom. We don't find it. It finds us and buys us. But once we are found and bought, we are willing to give it our complete and total devotion. Therefore if the land is heaven,then Jesus Christ is the treasure.
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God"
(1 John 3:1).In the love of God, let us also love one another.
No power or force on earth can be stronger than love. And God's love is the greatest love of all. By His love, we obtained salvation. By loving Him and then our neighbors, we manifest such salvation. We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).
The strongest thematic message in the Bible, which contains the Word of God, is God's love. Everything revolves around God's love. God, who created the universe by His Word, is the source of love, which is love in its truest, purest and perfect form.
Many religious sects in the Philippines interpret the Bible in many ways. They differ in their interpretations of the way to salvation. There are those who claim that only by good works can men find salvation. There are those who say that faith alone, even without manifestation of good works or love, results in salvation. There are those who say that only those who work miracles by the Holy Spirit are truly saved.
For this, be warned. Not all men who preach the Word of God, no matter how eloquent they may sound, or do miracles beyond logical comprehension have found salvation. Neither wisdom nor power to cast out demons is an assurance of salvation.
Only those who love truly are assured of salvation. Unless a man loves God and the people around him, he is not saved. How can anyone proclaim himself saved if he does not love his brother?
In the love of God, let us come to an understanding of His Word. When asked what the Bible is about, many people could not readily respond. What is the Bible about? The Bible is about God's love. While it is true that the Bible speaks about sin and forgiveness or death and salvation, this is because of one Biblical truth: God's love.
Let us grasp how wide and long and high and deep the love of God is. God's love endures forever (Psalm 118:1). The earth is filled with God's love (Psalm 119:64). His love is even better than life (Psalm 63:3) and surpasses knowledge (Ephesians 3:18).
"Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39).
By His love, He sent Jesus Christ to the world. "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).
"This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loves us and sent His son as atoning sacrifice for our sins" (I John 4:9-10).
"God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). "In love, He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will - to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves" (Ephesians 1:5-6).
"Because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved" (Ephesians 2:4-5).
A question that some people ask is if God really loves all men, why would He allow the sinners to be punished. Our God, who is rich in love, reigns with justice and righteousness. "The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished" (Numbers 14:8). But the Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, "keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him and obey His commands" (Nehemiah 1:15).
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has endorsed love for God and among us. "For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love" (Galatians 5:6).
Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command" (John 15:13-14). His commands: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. And all the Law and the prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:37-40).
He even exhorts us to love our enemies. "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you that you may be sons of your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:44). By loving each other, we will be worthy of His love. "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:34-35).
According to Paul, love is the fulfillment of the law. "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not covet,' and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law" (Romans 13:8-10).
Three apostles of Jesus Christ - John, Peter and Paul - have all encouraged us to love one another as a testimony of God's salvation. John said that love comes from God and that God is love. "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love" (1 John 4:7-8).
Peter said that love defeats sins. "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins"(I Peter 4:8). Paul said that of faith, hope and love, the greatest is love (I Corinthians 13:13). The first fruit of the Holy Spirit is love (Galatians 5:22-23). Love binds all good virtues in perfect unity (Colossians 3:14).
Paul said that the gift to do miracles would be nothing without love. "If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but have no love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have a faith that can move mountains but have no love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have no love, I gain nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
How can we show our love to God and to our fellowmen? Jesus Christ said that if we love Him, we will obey what He commands. "Whoever has may commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves Me. He who loves Me will be loved by my Father, and too will love Him and show myself to him" (John 14:21).
Jesus said: "If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching" (John 14:23-24).
The apostle John said, "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves His child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out His commands. This is love for God: to obey His commands" (1 John 5:1-3).
"If anyone says 'I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And He has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother" (1 John 4:20-21).
"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity in him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth" (I John 3:16-18).
Paul described love this way. "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails" (I Corinthians 13:4-8).
Love is important, because by this we know that we have eternal life. John said that "we know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers" (I John 3:14).
With love in our hearts, we have the assurance and joy of salvation in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. "God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like Him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love" (1 John 4:16-18).
"If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us" (1 John 4:15-16). God, Himself, makes us capable of love through the Holy Spirit. "God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us" (Romans 5:5).
The Coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ will come again to Earth, this time to bring salvation to those who believe in Him. "Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him" (Hebrews 9:27-28).
He will bring us who love Him together in one body. "Speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From Him the whole body, together by every supporting ligaments, grows and builds itself in love, as each part does its work" (Ephesians 4:15-16).
In Jesus Christ, we have a new life. We rejoice at the fact that "our citizenship is in heaven" (Philippians 3:20). We say these things to you because these are true, and because God wants you to know that He loves you very much and patiently waits for your acceptance of His gift of eternal life.
Invitation
Jesus Christ says: "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on His throne" (Revelation 3: 20-21).
If you have not yet accepted the love of God in Jesus Christ His Son,HE invites you to open your heart, and confess that you are a sinner and receive His gift of salvation. Below is a suggested prayer:
God, the most high, I praise You with all my heart. Forgive me, Lord, for the sins I have committed against You and the people around me. I confess that I am a sinner and could not do anything by myself to reach your righteousness. I am humbled by Your love. Though I deserve death, You love me so much that You sent Your Son Jesus Christ to die for my sins instead. From now on, I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and claim the salvation that He offers to me. I allow Him to dwell in me, so that I will always keep Your decrees in my heart. Let me live as a new creation, with love in my heart. Let me love with actions and in truth, as Jesus Christ loves us, to the glory of God in the highest. Amen!
