“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17
Yesterday was the fourth Sunday in Advent which is Love. Unfortunately the English language has reduced this one word that covers everything from loving chocolate to loving a person. But in the Bible both in the Hebrew and Greek, there are several words to define the different types of love that we as humans experience. This week we are going to focus on the love of God for people that we can not only experience, but once we accept Jesus and His sacrifice for us, we are enabled to walk in it and share it with others.
God’s love for this world in the Greek is agapao which signifies a selfless, sacrificial, and unconditional love, reflects an active choice to love others genuinely without any thought of return. Here love is not a noun, it is a verb, an action word. It perfectly describes Jesus and how He loves us. As you really consider each descriptive word you will realize that only Jesus can walk in them. This love goes way beyond any human kind of love we can express in and of ourselves.
But for those who have accepted Jesus’ sacrifice and forgiveness and received His Holy Spirit, we too are enabled to love like Him. This week we will look at this ultimate love, that gives us the ability to see others through the eyes of God. That we can see beyond what we see with our eyes, but see the person that God sees. It’s like the little boy who wanted to buy his Mom a beautiful dress for Christmas. He went to the store with the money he had saved and when the clerk asked if she could help him he said yes, he wanted to buy a dress for his Mom. She then asked what size she was, but he didn’t know. So she began to ask him to describe her, was she tall or short, thin or heavy set, etc. His response was that she was “perfect”, so the clerk showed him dresses in medium sizes. A few days after Christmas a woman came to return a dress that was way to small for her and the clerk knew right away this was the little boys Mom. She needed to return the dress because the child saw his Mom through the eyes of love. He didn’t focus on her weaknesses or imperfections, all he could see was her heart.
How do you see people? Do you just see their flaws and weaknesses? Or do you see the person that Jesus loves and who they were created to be. Seeing people through the eyes of God’s love not only changes us, but changes them and how they see Jesus. Let’s do what Jesus asked His disciples to do in John 13:34-35 “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
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