| THURSDAY | April 2 |
Love Personified
Jesus Christ is our ultimate role model. If we wonder what our love should be like, we need to look only at our Savior. In Him we see the perfect example. Humanly speaking, Christ had every reason to dislike or even hate a lot of people. The spiritual leaders were so envious of His success that they constantly harassed Him and eventually decided to eliminate Him. Why should He have loved these people? His own family was at times less than supportive. His disciples often fought among themselves and were absent when their presence would have counted most. How could He love them at those moments when they totally forsook Him?
Besides all this, Jesus also manifested His love in particular toward those who would not get much positive attention from the spiritual leaders of His days: women (including prostitutes), those who suffered from leprosy, people from Samaria, members of the occupying force, and tax gatherers.
Take a careful look at some concrete examples of Jesus showing unselfish love, in circumstances in which most people would have found it difficult to do so.
The Bible far surpasses the revelation of God in nature, yet, no written record can equal the personal presence of the Son of God. The Bible is God’s tool to accomplish His purpose in our lives. However, it has no lasting value if we regard it only as an interesting history book. Unless it leads us to the One it reveals, our study of the Bible will be of little benefit. The Bible was written, above all, to give to us the revelation of God presented to the world through the life and death of His Son, Jesus.
How should the manifestation of divine love in the ministry of Jesus impact our discipleship? 2 Cor. 5:14, Phil. 2:2.
The love of Christ compels us, the apostle Paul says (2 Cor. 5:14). The English translation is somewhat ambiguous, for the original Greek construction may be translated as the love that comes from Christ as well as the love that we have for Christ. Both meanings are grammatically justified and also are theologically correct. When we grasp something of the magnitude of Christ's love, it will create a loving response, and this will give us the intense desire to share that love with others. Jesus also loved those who were despised by most other people and were generally considered rather unlovable. He went out of His way to show them His love. How do I show my love to the homeless, to people who live at the fringes of society, and to those who do not in any way represent the values that I treasure?
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