"God so loved the world that he gave his only Son." We are used to this profound idea, so used to it that we often glaze over the incredible reality: God the Father has a Son who became man and dwelt among us! Too often we blithely make the sign of the cross in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, without realizing what a radical theology we are announcing.
Only Christianity proclaims a triune God. Only Christianity professes that we have one God in three divine persons. Only Christianity declares that the very nature of God is to be relational and literally "personal." Why does this matter? Because we are made in God's image, as the opening chapters of Genesis tell us. We, therefore, are made in the image of this Trinitarian God who IS love. We are built to be like this God! Just as God the Father loves God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, we too are called to love one another. In fact, we are not fulfilling our nature and design when we don't. And just as God loved the world (that is, us!) so too we are called to love him in return.
We don't have to embrace this image in which we were made, of course. God gave us freedom so that our love can be real, but this means our choices really matter. We can decide not to reflect God's interpersonal love in the world. We can opt not to return the love that God pours out to each of us. But this can only lead to disappointment in the end. After all, God sent his Son so that "everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life." Ultimately, this means spending eternity in the Trinitarian embrace of love. So why not start now? (Gospel Reflection)