Augustus, a short fairytale written by a German writer named Hermann Hesse, shows how the mind to receive love and the mind to give love influence our life. Born as a posthumous child, Augustus received love from everyone, growing up, as his mother expressed that wish to a mysterious old man. Since the boy only received love from others, he grew to be arrogant and heartless, committing all sorts of crimes; he even decided to give up on his life, getting bored of the love of other people and feeling life as uninteresting. At that moment, the old man appeared again to ask for his wish, and he wished to be able to love everyone else. The next day, he started to stop loving himself, and got despised and scorned by people who hated him, and was accused because of his past sins. From that time on, however, he found the lovely sides of others and came to love them. Repenting of his sin in the prison for a long time, he became happy. Even after he was discharged from the prison, he looked for those who turned away from him to help and share love with them. At the last moment of his life, he met the mysterious old man again. Seeing the angels who were with him in his childhood, he rested in peace.
True love is not receiving but giving. Those who want to receive love do not feel satisfied with their endless desires. However, those who want to give love consider others’ situation, seek for beautiful sides of others, serve others, and sacrifice themselves.
Our old self was sinful like that of Augustus, only receiving love. Our sin in Heaven started from arrogance, selfishness, and rebellion. But now that we’ve learned to give love, we are changed. The first one of Mother’s Teachings is “It is more blessed to give love than to receive it, as God always gives love.” According to the example of God Elohim, who sacrificed Themselves to love us to the point of death, the Church of God members practice sharing love all over the world through volunteer activites including disaster relief and missionary work. When we share the love, it enriches and adds more value to our life.