By Chap. (Maj.) Byung Min
Special to GUIDON

One day, when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, and said, “Lord, one of my servants is sick and is suffering terribly.”

Jesus said, “OK, that is not a problem I will go and heal him. Lead the way man.”

He said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell Lt. Brown, ‘go,’ and he goes; and Sgt. Smith, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my soldiers, ‘Do this,’ and they do it.”

 When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to the centurion,  “Hey, you are the man.  You have a great faith. Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” His servant was healed at that very hour.

I would like to highlight one point in this short story. The centurion had a love for others. Think about this, when people came to Jesus, most came for their needs. But this guy came to Jesus, not because of his need, but because of his servant who was suffering from being paralyzed.

Since I have joined the Army as a chaplain, I have had chances to hear about commanders from my Soldiers. When they talk about their commanders, I find one interesting thing. Basically, this is what they talk about: Who is a good commander or who is a bad commander. Especially, when the commanders leave, they evaluate them like that.

But what is the standard for a good commander or a bad commander? The Soldier does not care whether the commander is smart or not. The Soldier does not care whether the commander was rich or not. The Soldier did not care whether the commander was good looking or not, but the Soldier does care about if the commander has love or not.

When they found that the commander cared about them, they said he was a good commander or he was the best commander they ever had.

The Soldier may not remember the commander who was very smart, and may forget the one who was good looking like Tom Cruise, but they will not forget the one who loved the Soldier.

The point is, love is the key to human relationships. I would like to encourage you to become like the centurion who had love in his heart.

(Editor’s note: Min is the chaplain resource manager.)