I was listening to Charles Stanley today on the radio to his "No Greater Love" sermon and was reminded about a study I did on Jesus. Of course like all Christians, I am a work in progress and constantly looking to improve my behaviour and conduct to reflect the will of the father. Like most people I am very familiar with the line from the Bible, "No greater love hath a man than he lay down his life for a friend." Two things jumped out at me during my study. One I am Jesus' Friend. Which means the Lord of the universe, who spoke the world and all creation into existence and is larger than I could ever fathom, loved me enough to die for me. Pause. Can I say "WoW" even backwards "WoW," now that is a friend.
The second thing; just as awesome, hit me square in the face. Who do I proclaim to Love and yet won't even give them a few minutes of my time, a call back or kind word. So the question here that begs an answer is do I truly know what love is. So I dug into the Bible; the source of all truth, and searched, both it and myself some more. And discovered; as Charles Stanley's message states, God's love is not like ours. This truth hurts; because it points to our failure to measure up. Like all convicting truth, it means we must recognize our error, subdue our pride and change. Unlike our conditional love, his is a sacrificial love; however, this love can be taken on by followers of Christ through the Holy Spirit. It is not a question of if you have this spiritual gift , but if you have the humbleness to exercise it. Loving this way means putting yourself aside for the good of others.
I am just like everyone else when it comes to change, SLOW. But at least I am changing and by God's grace as painlessly as possible. To those I do not show this kind of love to, I apologize and ask forgiveness. Please remember I too am under construction and require God's Grace, Love and Mercy.
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