Monday, February 13, 2012

A Valentine thought....


“For God so loved the world….”  Immediately you are probably like me, in your head you are saying the verse that we all know so well: 

“ForGodsolovedtheworldthathegavehisonlybegottensonthatwhosoeverbelievesinhimshallnotperishbuthaveeverlastinglife.”  John 3:16

You see the trouble with that is I say it kind of like I typed it.  It is like run on sentence that I say and have taken for granted.  In this season of love, it occurred to me, for God SO LOVED the world.  I mean HE SO LOVED the world.  What exactly does that mean?
It means that He gave his only child, his only son to die for the sins of the world.  How often do you think about this in the reality that it is?  Well, for me I only have one child.  I think there is NO WAY that I would want to actively give my only child up for anything.  Yet God gave his only son because He loved.
I talk about love a lot in my blogs.  I guess it is because I love love.  Love in its true form.  That is love that is given unconditionally.  That is love that sacrifices without complaint.  I can only think of one true example of that kind of love and it is found in Jesus.   The closest that I think a person can come to having this kind of love is between a parent and child.  When I think about how much I love my child and how much more GOD loves me, it is humbling.
God’s love is so much more than I realize.  It is in fact healing.  I was reading an article associated with my Bible study this week.  It was written by a woman who was in Rwanda during the uprising that killed nearly one million Rwandans.  It is an incredible story.  This woman was a Tsusi married to a man outside of her tribe.  They were both attending college and living seemingly normal lives, when the uprising began.  She endured many unspeakable things.  She was and is a Christian.  She told of many struggles, but the summary of her story was about God’s love.
“When by the grace of God I became aware of the love of God for me in the midst of those hard moments, I made a choice to make peace with my past.  I closed the door to hatred and moved to a place called forgiveness.  And love healed me.  Today I can look back and see the unseen hand of God uncovering my stinky wounds and bandaging them with love and forgiveness.
…Today I can tell anyone who is going through injustice, abuse, and rejection that there is no deep pit that the hand of God cannot reach.  He is mighty to save.”
                                                                                    The Other Side of Darkness: By Dawn Hollomon

The Bible says, “The greatest of these is love.”  I believe that it is in fact the greatest.  It is the greatest gift God gives us.  He loves us despite our inequities, and more fully than we can even imagine.  This Valentine’s day, I would ask that you just take a moment and really let this sink in, “For God SO LOVED the world.” Let God's love fill you up, heal your hurts, and give you peace!

This is my mindset, now let me hear yours!

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