[It] must be difficult, having sworn your life to

The life of a Jedi was hard. It was very monastic-like.

While on the refuge transport in Attack of the Clones, Padmé and Anakin discuss what it is like to live as a Jedi.

Padmé tells him, “[It] must be difficult, having sworn your life to the Jedi, not being able to visit the places you like or do the things you like.”

Anakin replies, “Or be with the people that I love.”

A bit unsettled, Padmé asks if Jedi are allowed to love since she thought that was forbidden.

Anakin clarifies that “Attachment is forbidden. Possession is forbidden. Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is central to a Jedi’s life.”

He concludes with, “You might say we are encouraged to love.”

In John 15:12, Jesus tells His disciples, “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”

What does compassion mean? The English word combines the prefix com, meaning “with,” “together,” or “in association.” The word passion means “to suffer” or “to endure.” Compassion means “to suffer with” or “to endure together.”

This is the type of love that Jesus demonstrated. He is known as the Suffering Servant. The love that Jesus has for us, agape (unconditional love), led Him to leave heaven and take on the form of a servant, as Philippians 2:7-8 records.

How can we call ourselves Christians if we cannot love and suffer alongside someone?

In talking with non-believers, remind them that Christians are commanded by Jesus in John 15:12 to “love one another as [Jesus] have loved [the disciples].”

We do not always live out love, but we should.