Jesus is Love



Somedays I go through this life and wonder if God hears me or loves me anymore. Then I take look around I see my beautiful family, my wonderful wife who puts up with me. Then I take time to get in His readings, take time to hear His sweet voice, THEN THE NEWS FLASH; I am reminded His Love is abundant and it is sufficient.

This was on my heart today so I hope you enjoy the reading!

Many Blessings!
 
Jesus says,
"I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are my disciples."
 
Please take note that love is not an option for those who follow Jesus. Jesus says, "I give you a new commandment ...".  Notice Jesus says, commandment not a suggestion! This is not just a command to love like our mother or father but to love in the same way that Jesus loves us. Jesus said, "As I have loved you, so you must love one another." Today I want you to pay attention to the little word "must". Just as there was no getting around our mother when she told you, "You must wash your hands before eating", likewise there is no way around this command of Jesus, "You must love one another."

Why does Jesus command us to love? He gives this command because there is a part of every one of us that rebels against the idea of pure, unconditional love. Despite the example that we have in Jesus’ undeserved and unconditional love for us - there is a part of us that says such love is out of place in the world in which we live. There is a part of us that says –"sure, loving others is great - up to a point...."

Isn’t that what we do all the time?

We draw a line and say, "That’s how much we are prepared to love the next person".
We draw a line and say, "That’s how far we are prepared to do a kind deed for someone else".
We draw a line and say, "Those are the people we are prepared to love".

I am reminded all the time Jesus didn’t draw a line and say that going beyond that line was too much to ask. His love knew no limits.

That’s how he commanded us to love – willingly and sacrificially. In fact, that’s why Jesus commands us to love, because he knew that we are happy with a love that is anything but unconditional and sacrificial.

In a lot of way I think it is easier for us to be selfish, to ignore the person who needs our love, to offer up any kind of excuse why we shouldn’t get involved in other people’s lives. It would seem that to love as Jesus has loved us is humanly impossible. I might be generous enough to say that we might manage it on the odd occasions but loving others unconditionally and sacrificially all the time is a bit of a tall order.

The Bible states that our ability to love comes from our relationship with Jesus Christ. "We love because he first loved us", says the Apostle John. We are able to love because he loves us. Understanding this is critical to our ability to live out the Christian life of love. The more the love of Jesus fills our lives, the more we will be able to love other with the same kind of love that he shows to us.

Love  wasn't meant to be like a vacuum; to be all sucked up. Love was meant to pass from one person to another. This is one reason Christian parents are so important.

I once read somewhere, that a child who does not receive love, psychologists believe they will be unable to give love. On the other hand, a child who has received the proper amount of nurturing as an infant and as a toddler will have a sense of security and trust that will last them all their lives. You see how the love that children show is dependent of the love they receive from their parents. In order to show Christlike love, we need to receive that love from Christ

Jesus today I choose to love. I choose to be willing to care for others more than myself. Lord want to be genuine, and love unconditionally as you did. I choose to look to you as my compass that way you direct me on what I am suppose to do to glorify you.

I hope you have a very blessed weekend and a wonderful rest of the week!

Choose to Love and know you are Loved!