John 15:12-13”
At a wedding my husband and I attended once, the pastor used this scripture as the starting point for his message about the commitment of marriage. It is a great verse.
It starts out with a command from Jesus telling us, we must love one another the way He has loved us. Now stop and think about what He is saying.
Jesus is the incarnation of the One True God – He loved us so much that He made the choice to leave the glory of heaven and come be with us. While on this planet Jesus was both fully God and fully man – He showed us love is a choice, he asked His Father to remove the cup, and yet HE ultimately made the choice of obedience, stretched out His arms and laid down His life us.
Today as we consider the cross, really think about how much God loves you. He made the choice to love you so much that He willingly went to the cross for you and me so that we who believe can spend eternity with Him.
Then think about how our own relationships might be strengthened if we make the choice to love sacrificially. If we place others before our selves, if we would love and respect others the way Jesus loved us – can you imagine how much better our families and communities would be?
If that newly married couple heed the words spoken to them at their wedding and build their marriage on a foundation of Jesus – they will have a long and happy life together.
And if we treat everyone in our lives with the love of Jesus, we will bring positive change to our world.
What we call Good Friday was a dark day some 2000 years ago brought about by the choice Jesus made to love. Think about that today as you take time to come to the cross.
A prayer
Father –thank you for loving us so much that You came to be with us and to show us much you loved us by paying the cost of our sin. By the power of Your Spirit may we fulfill the command to love one another the way the You love us. In the might name of Jesus we pray, Amen.
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