I ask God for love and friendliness, and He gives them to me. Together with them, He also sends trials. After these trials and victories, He gives revelations about what I experienced, learned, and understood. Then I draw a conclusion.
Jesus promised that He would make us fishers of men, and I see this promise being fulfilled in my life.
He taught me to catch you in my nets of love and make you my friends, never releasing you from this net.
The interesting thing is that I do not bind anyone to myself or violate anyone’s will by forcing him to be my friend. I simply love these people, think about their happiness, help according to my strength and opportunities, rejoice in them, pray for them, and am very happy that they are present in my life. I simply cast the nets and wait for the next friend to enter them, while leaving him the opportunity to leave. Yet for some reason, they do not want to run away and even respond with mutual friendship.
Being a fisher of men is a special gift from God, and it is available to everyone who longs for love and friendship.
The truth about God is revealed in the Word of God and also in our attitude toward people. If they see Jesus in you, He will certainly reveal the beauty of His love to them through you. Then He will work miracles of friendship and love for their good.
But not everyone desires this, and not everyone is capable of it.
Some fishers go out to catch people with dynamite, clubs, spears, and false doctrines. They stun, maim, and kill, and afterward boast about their trophies. But when healing takes place, the “trophies” run away forever and become very difficult to catch again.
Love and friendship form a very delicate yet strong net. It captures its catch so skillfully that the person caught finds happiness and experiences revival and transformation. He no longer desires to leave. He sees that he has come under the influence of your love and feels comfortable and peaceful within it. This person may be on the other side of the Earth, yet remain within your net with no intention of leaving.
But the most beautiful and strongest net belongs to Jesus. Everyone caught within it shares one space, comes to know the others, draws closer, and becomes dear and close.
It is written of Jesus’ disciples that they left their nets and followed Him. In other words, He caught them in His Own net—the best net—from which they had no desire to escape.
How wonderful it is to see the fruit of your fishing, communicate with these people, rejoice in them, and tenderly preserve them in your heart!
Because every loving person may encounter complete misunderstanding toward himself and what is in his heart, we should always remember the experiences of Jesus. Studying the life and teachings of Christ greatly helps us make correct decisions in difficult situations. It provides a proper understanding of what is happening in my life and why it is happening.
For example, because I possess love for others within my heart, I can share with you from my own perspective what I hear, see, and experience.
I love—this is my decision, my position, my answer to many difficult questions that are sometimes extremely hard to answer. It is the direction of my life and my daily choice to follow this principle. All of this takes place within my mind. Somewhere deep within the heart, reason makes this decision and declares it in morning prayer while asking for support from above. The will agrees with this choice and begins acting in the chosen direction. The intellect brings every thought into harmony with the purpose of living, thinking, and developing within these boundaries. In its essence, this is something deeply personal between God and me. Yet the decision has been made, and I take a step in that direction. I am not Love; I am learning it. Especially at the beginning of this path, I see how many mistakes occur in my life and how many difficult situations arise along the way. But I seek a solution within the boundaries of love and find it. I also try to write down some of my observations and share them. I desire that if someone takes this path and encounters what I have encountered, it will be easier for him to endure the trial, understand its essence, and see the best solution.
I do not try to show my love to someone or prove it to anyone. There is no truth in doing so. Love exists, and it knows, sees, and senses its time to act and overcome. It is evident to everyone to whom God reveals it. But a blind person finds it difficult to behold the beauty of love. In his eyes, it remains darkness no matter how hard you try to present it. Even so, loving is always better and more right. When you act this way, you will never lose. Without love, you will never become an overcomer or receive what has been promised to overcomers.
Love, and it shall be given you. Love, and you shall find. Love, and the door shall be opened to you. Love, and you will see more than you can imagine. For everyone who loves receives from above, everyone who loves finds, and to everyone who loves, the door will be opened. Great will be your reward in Heaven, and you will be sons and daughters of your Heavenly Father. What could be better?
I also came to understand that love can be demonstrated and seen only through deep personal interaction with another person, when love sees a problem and begins actively helping to resolve it. It is as though you take this weapon from your arsenal and begin using it when there is a need. And it works. Love studies another person’s soul very cautiously, tenderly, and delicately, then offers what will benefit him. But he himself must decide to open his heart to your love.
Some people see the actions of my love and open their hearts to its influence. Some remain indifferent. Others rise against me and begin despising me. Many different things happen. Some see more than you reveal, while others see nothing at all, and still others see everything differently. But I always look to Jesus and try to understand how He evaluates and perceives the situation. Christ gives His approval or instructs me how I could act better if something similar happens again. And I learn. God’s support along the path of love is the very best encouragement. We do not always receive this from people, but God will never leave me without His evaluation of my actions. This helps greatly.
Our world is wrapped in a different kind of net that binds the will and mind and makes everyone caught within it a slave of sin. But God’s love breaks these bonds and invites us to cast ourselves into its nets of love and friendship, which are stretched above the abyss of sin to keep us from falling and being shattered to death.
I must now decide for myself into which net I will fall and with which net I will catch my friends. Then I must live and act according to that decision.
I choose the nets of friendship and love. How joyful it is to become entangled in them forever and have no possibility of escaping back into this world! How wonderful it is to enter someone’s love and experience happiness and joy within it! How beautiful it is for all of us together to cast our nets of love and become caught in them, longing to remain in this condition forever.
Can you imagine the joy of Jesus when, after casting His net into the world, He draws in a rich catch that looks upon its Fisher and no longer desires to go anywhere else? Jesus takes us out of the aquarium of sin and releases us into His Ocean of Love, where we can become true little fish belonging to God. He has no intention of eating us but begins caring for each one of us individually in a special way.
Bible Verses for Reflection
Luke 5:5–10; Matthew 7:12; Proverbs 12:12; Matthew 13:47–48; Luke 11:13; Galatians 5:16; Romans 14:12–13; 15:1–3.