06/02/2021
We know that God loves us, and that the depth of His love is unfathomable. We know this because He sent His only begotten Son to die for us, even though we were lost in our sin. By this unbound love He redeemed us, and for this we love Him in return, and praise His name. But, can we possibly love Him as He loves us? We strive to do so, but can we truly grasp the fullness of being loved as He loves us? Our love falls far short of God’s, yet we offer Him all that we have, and give Him all we are capable of, pressing the very limits of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. This is His commandment; not that we love him as He is able to love us, but that we love Him to the limits of our ability, with all we are capable of. Is this how we find ourselves loving God today?
“Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’”
Mark 12:29-30 ESV
God loved us while we were yet sinners, and Jesus died for us not as a reward for our righteousness, but to lift us from the certain death we face in our sin. We know from scripture that God finds sin detestable, and yet His love overcame our shortcomings and sin… not just for you, or for me, but the sin of all the world…
““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 ESV
You love your spouse, and your children, and that love causes you to go to any length to provide for them, defend them, and love them more than life itself, but would you do the same for your enemies, or those who you can’t tolerate? Well, that is exactly what God has done for us. We know that His Son Jesus was without sin, and that God loved Him, but what about us… we were sinners. How is it that He can love us so? How can Jesus love us as His Father loves Him?
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.”
John 15:9 ESV
We fall far short of this kind of love, and are only capable of loving, as Jesus loves, with the help of the Holy Spirit. This is how we find ourselves able to obey the first commandment, and also how we can obey the second great commandment, that we love our neighbor as ourselves. To do this we must become sons and daughters of God. Are we ready to stretch our ability to love by loving God as we are commanded, and going even further by loving those we are not even inclined to like… much less love?
“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”
Romans 8:14 ESV
Let’s look about us today, and ask ourselves if we are loving as we should. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to stretch us, and lead us to love as Jesus loves, and as our Heavenly Father commands us… with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your love that is so grand that we stand in amazement, and awe of it. Thank you Lord for your Holy Spirit that gives us the ability to love beyond ourselves, and to enter into a loving relationship with you like that which exists between you, and Jesus. Thank you for making us your sons and daughters through the power of your Spirit, and not by relying on our meager abilities. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who lifts us from sin and seats us with you through the blood of your Son Jesus. Praised be your name for the mercy you show us in Christ, and your grace which brings us to righteousness through the power of your love for us. Wash us clean of sin Holy Father, and let us drink deep from the loving cup of Jesus as His blood therein redeems us, and makes us new creatures… Holy, righteous, capable of unimaginable love, and eternal life.
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.”
1 John 4:7-12 ESV
Rich Forbes