Skip to main content

How God Showed His Love

             This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. (I John 4:9)

A number of posts in the past have mentioned or discussed the Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. I’ve also shared my belief that love is seeking what is in the best interests of the beloved. In today’s passage, God is shown as a giver of gifts. He gave His Son to us, for us, and in our place, and He gave His Son permission to give Himself for all those purposes. He could have told Jesus He wasn’t permitted but He gave Him permission to do what love required of Jesus, knowing the cost, and He allowed Jesus to take the responsibility He chose to and to suffer the pain that such a responsibility required.

In giving His Son, God served our needs. In coming, Jesus served our needs.

The 33 years that Jesus spend in Palestine are far removed from ours, but because of the records of His time here, the high quality of that time spent continues, as do the words of affirmation He spoke to us. Of the languages described by Dr. Chapman, only physical touch seems to be missing from this verse. If you can find it, I’ll be glad to hear of it from you.

But as I consider this passage and our calling to imitate Christ, I find myself wondering about the extent of the sacrifice we should be willing to make for the best interest of those we are called to love. One of the key issues is the question of what is truly in the best interest of our beloveds. How far did God allow His Son to go in doing what could not have been done by another? I think that question may answer the larger question. What is in the best interest of the beloved is for the beloved to do what the beloved can, and we are to step in when the beloved cannot.

To the extent that the beloved can do for him/herself, he/she should. We may step in to show our love only if that stepping in does not reduce the beloved in some way. That’s a hard line to draw. And it’s hard to stand by and allow the beloved to face something difficult or painful that the beloved can face. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more