How I love positive
things. This is a nice positive
verse. Oh, wait! It’s a command to love in the same way Jesus
loved each of us who are His children.
This passage is quickly losing the sweet syrupy kind of love that I
often think of when I “just want to love others.”
Let’s take a look at how
Jesus loved others. First of all, He
willingly left his home in heaven to come to a sin stained world to do His
Father’s will. Hmm… I don’t often want to leave my own comforts
for a short time. Jesus left the perfect
place to come to a fallen world. From
the time He was born until He died, He was misunderstood. Even those closest to him, didn’t “get
it.” He was on the run from Egypt to
Galilee to the Holy City. He fulfilled His difficult mission to save me from my
sin through his death and resurrection.
This verse tells me I must
love as Jesus loved. It’s a love that
gives up my will in order to do God’s will.
It is self-sacrificing. It gives
others my time rather than doing what I always want to do. It is often difficult. I might be
misunderstood and those I seek to minister might not always “get it.”
As I think about these
things, motherhood and marriage gives me a lot of opportunities to practice
this. If I wasn’t married or a mother,
I’m sure God would open up people who need an extra mother or friend in
life. That’s how God is, He uses us
wherever we are and desires a willing heart.
