S23P8 – The abundant life: love
Jn. 3:16-17
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Love is the full expression of who and what God is. Love waited for us when we were lost and not even looking for a savior. Love cradled us when we realized that we needed something more than just ourselves. Love drew us to Jesus as our redeemer and friend. Love accepted us when we took the step to come to the Lord in faith for salvation. Love sacrificed itself for the unworthy to make us worthy. This is the root of our citizenship in the kingdom of heaven. For that reason, it is what should abound inside and around us. Love is a taste of what God has waiting for us in eternity.
The abundant love that should exist in the life of a Christian is like a flowing river. It considered us long before we were formed in the womb and will remain for eternity, accompanying and supporting us through every moment of our existence. Love has no beginning and no end, and for that reason it cannot run out. There is no fixed quantity of love that is available, and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ illustrates that. Who can measure the love that it took for him to endure death on a cross for our sake? This love that He has exhibited becomes the love that changes us and carries us through this life. And as we live our earthly days we cannot keep all of this to ourselves. Our love must flow forth from us to others. If not, it is wasted.
This abundant love that we hope to experience in life flows in both directions. It comes from God to us then goes from us to others. We can look at ourselves as conduits of this immeasurable and limitless affection. If we experience the love of God within us, we should desire to pass it along because it is too precious and too much to keep to ourselves. We must desire to share it with others so that they can come to know the love of God as well. Finding our treasure then sharing it with others is what makes love abound for us. Father, teach us to love as you have loved, and remind us that it is only through you that we can find the power to love others as we should.