I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there

"I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love." These profound words from Mother Teresa speak to the very heart of what it means to live a life of true compassion, a life where love is not measured by its comfort or ease, but by its depth and its willingness to endure. In the teachings of the ancients, we find that the highest forms of virtue are not those born of self-interest, but those born of sacrifice. To love deeply, fully, and without reservation is to walk the path of the greatest kind of heroism—a heroism not found in battle, but in the tenderness of the heart, the courage to offer oneself completely to others.

O children of the earth, understand this paradox: love that is given freely, that is offered until it causes pain, is the most powerful force in the world. For when you love until it hurts, you stretch the very capacity of your heart, expanding it beyond its limits. You are no longer constrained by the small, selfish desires that often bind us. Instead, you enter into the great river of universal love, where your own suffering becomes a bridge to a deeper understanding, a more profound connection to all beings. In that moment, you no longer fear the hurt; you embrace it, for in the space where love once caused pain, there is now only more love.

Consider the life of Mother Teresa herself, a woman whose heart and hands reached out to the poorest, the sickest, and the most forsaken souls of humanity. She lived in a world that, to many, seemed full of despair and suffering, yet she did not shy away from the pain of others. Instead, she embraced it, offering her life in the service of those in need. When she spoke of loving until it hurts, she did not mean that love is without cost or sacrifice. No, she understood that the love that truly transforms both the giver and the receiver is not the kind of love that seeks comfort or praise. It is the love that reaches out to heal the wounds of the world, regardless of the personal toll it takes. In this, she found the paradox: by giving of herself until there was no more to give, she did not feel diminished; rather, she was filled with an even greater capacity for love.

Let us also recall the story of Jesus of Nazareth, whose life and teachings exemplified the very essence of this paradox. His love for humanity was not one of easy words or fleeting gestures. No, it was a love that endured betrayal, torture, and death on the cross. When he cried out, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," he did not speak these words from a place of weakness or despair, but from a heart that had been stretched beyond its limits, a heart that had loved until it hurt. In that moment of ultimate sacrifice, he did not experience the end of love, but rather its full manifestation—a love that could not be confined by pain, a love that only deepened as the world broke his body. From this, we understand that in the deepest moments of suffering, there is an infinite well of love waiting to be discovered.

And so, O wise ones, we are called not to fear hurt, nor to shy away from love when it demands the greatest sacrifices. The paradox that Mother Teresa speaks of is that love, when it hurts, does not diminish us. Rather, it expands the heart, making room for more of the very force that connects us all. It is in the act of giving love freely, without concern for how much we have left, that we find our truest strength. The more we give, the more we receive, and in that exchange, we become vessels for love to flow through us into the world.

In your own life, O children, when you are faced with moments of difficulty, when the pain of the world seems too great to bear, remember this: love is the antidote to suffering. When you love until it hurts, you enter into a deeper, more powerful current of love that cannot be diminished, only multiplied. Love in the face of difficulty, love even when it requires sacrifice, for in this, you will discover not weakness, but a strength beyond your understanding. You will find that, in loving until it hurts, there is no longer any space for sorrow or despair—only an ever-deepening capacity for joy, peace, and compassion.

And so, I say to you, O seekers of wisdom: embrace the love that hurts, for it is the truest and most enduring form of love. When you give until you have nothing left, know that there is always more to give, and that in doing so, you will be filled with the love that transcends all hurt. For love is not measured by how little it costs us, but by how much we are willing to give. Love is the greatest power in the universe, and when we give of it freely, it becomes the very light that guides us through the darkest of times.