Unfathomable Love
Josh Thayer
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” John 13:34
Being a father to a 1-year-old little girl, I finally understand what it means to really love. Not to say that the love I have for my wife, family, and friends was not real, but when you helped create something from nothing, it really puts into perspective the concept of love. Now that I am a father, I think it has elevated the love I have for others in my life. I know how much God loves me and I did understand that love even before I was a father, but I feel like now it is more tangible than ever before. To say that if my wife and daughter were ever in harm’s way or needed something, that there is no limit to where I would go or what I would do to protect them is an understatement. That is just a very small picture of how much God loves you and me!
At the time when Jesus made this statement in John chapter 13, the concept of loving others was not anything new. Leviticus 19:18 was written some fifteen hundred years earlier, “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”
The concept of loving others like Jesus loves us was an insane next level. God literally sent His Son to be with us and allowed His Son to live, laugh, love, be in pain, suffer, and eventually die for you and me. I know there is no way I would ever do that as a father. Not in a million years, not for any amount of money would I send my daughter to endure what Jesus went through. An even crazier thought is before God sent Jesus, He knew every detail of what was going to happen, and He still did it. That love for me is something I do not think I will ever understand, but I am extremely appreciative that I get to receive that love from God.
Now as believers, it is our responsibility to attempt (I say attempt because it is literally impossible to love as Jesus loves us) to love every person we ever come into contact with like Jesus loves us. No matter what the past, present, or future holds in any relationship, we are called to love them. That is real love, a love that holds no grudges or puts up any walls, and a love that will do the unfathomable for someone else. That is our calling, our command, and our purpose.
Josh Thayer
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” John 13:34
Being a father to a 1-year-old little girl, I finally understand what it means to really love. Not to say that the love I have for my wife, family, and friends was not real, but when you helped create something from nothing, it really puts into perspective the concept of love. Now that I am a father, I think it has elevated the love I have for others in my life. I know how much God loves me and I did understand that love even before I was a father, but I feel like now it is more tangible than ever before. To say that if my wife and daughter were ever in harm’s way or needed something, that there is no limit to where I would go or what I would do to protect them is an understatement. That is just a very small picture of how much God loves you and me!
At the time when Jesus made this statement in John chapter 13, the concept of loving others was not anything new. Leviticus 19:18 was written some fifteen hundred years earlier, “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”
The concept of loving others like Jesus loves us was an insane next level. God literally sent His Son to be with us and allowed His Son to live, laugh, love, be in pain, suffer, and eventually die for you and me. I know there is no way I would ever do that as a father. Not in a million years, not for any amount of money would I send my daughter to endure what Jesus went through. An even crazier thought is before God sent Jesus, He knew every detail of what was going to happen, and He still did it. That love for me is something I do not think I will ever understand, but I am extremely appreciative that I get to receive that love from God.
Now as believers, it is our responsibility to attempt (I say attempt because it is literally impossible to love as Jesus loves us) to love every person we ever come into contact with like Jesus loves us. No matter what the past, present, or future holds in any relationship, we are called to love them. That is real love, a love that holds no grudges or puts up any walls, and a love that will do the unfathomable for someone else. That is our calling, our command, and our purpose.
Posted in Upper Room
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