There once was a young woman who had a baby boy. Just after her son’s baptism, a ragged old man came to her, and offered to grant her one wish on behalf of her son.
Thinking only the best for her baby, the woman wished that her son would always be loved by everyone he met. The old man said, “so be it,” and vanished. It turned out just as he said.
As the boy grew, everyone loved him so much that he never lacked for anything. Yet, things did not turn out as expected. As adored and admired as the young man was, he experienced a terrible emptiness within him. He could have anything he wanted, just by asking, but he had no real friends.
He never knew the joy of a day’s work or an achievement, richly rewarded. His neighbors took care of all his needs. The young man became cynical, jaded and selfish as none of his actions ever brought him any negative consequences.
Finally, the day came when his aged mother died. At the funeral, the same mysterious old man appeared and offered the young man one wish. The young man took him up on his offer and asked that his mother’s original wish for him be changed.
Rather than being loved by everyone he met, the young man asked the old wizard to give him the power to love everyone he met. And from that day forward he knew happiness such as no one on this earth has ever known.
Thanks to Keith Wagner for this story.
My Commentary:
This story turns a common desire upside down. Most of us, if given the chance, would ask for what that mother asked — that we or those we love be admired, accepted, and loved by everyone. It sounds like the perfect gift. But the story reveals something deeper: being loved is not the same as being fulfilled.
The young man had everything most people spend their lives chasing — approval, ease, admiration. Yet he lacked what truly gives life meaning: purpose, effort, and genuine relationship. Love that comes without cost or choice can become empty. It does not shape the soul. It does not call anything out of us. It simply surrounds us, and eventually, it suffocates rather than sustains.
What he was missing was not love received, but love given.
There is a profound difference between the two. To be loved can comfort us. But to love — to choose it, to act on it, to give ourselves away — that is what transforms us. It draws us out of ourselves. It connects us to others in a real and living way. It gives meaning to work, to sacrifice, and even to suffering.
From a Christian perspective, this is at the very heart of the Gospel. Jesus never promises that we will be loved by everyone. In fact, He suggests the opposite. But He does command us to love — freely, generously, even when it is difficult. Because love is not something we wait to receive; it is something we are called to become.
The turning point in the story comes when the young man finally understands this. He does not ask for the world to change its attitude toward him. He asks for his own heart to be changed. That is the moment of true freedom.
And in that shift — from needing to be loved to choosing to love — he discovers a happiness that had eluded him all along.
It is a simple but profound truth: the fullest life is not found in how much love comes to us, but in how much love flows from us.
Think of a time when YOU found true freedom when you gave your love to someone else…. when you gave your love away.
HAVE YOU PRAYED ABOUT IT AS MUCH AS YOU TALKED ABOUT IT?
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