As the Father has love me, so have I loved you. John 15:9
This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. John 15:13
O God, by your Spirit, may these truths reach to the uttermost depths of my soul! Jesus Christ, you have loved me with the same love that the Father has loved you for all of eternity. What a profound and humbling reality. Jesus, you are holy and pure and are very much deserving of the eternal love of the Father. O, but I am an unrighteous sinner! How often do I bask in my own sinfulness instead of resting in your glory? Yet, by your grace, you have loved me with the same infinite love the Father has loved you. How undeserving am I of this infinite, gracious love? Oh, but you do not want us to stop with that comforting thought. With that, Lord Jesus, you have commanded us to reflect that same love to the world around us. Again, my sinfulness is made known because of my failure to uphold your commandment. You loved us with the Father's love because of your union with the Father. My failure to love with your love lies in my failure to Abide in You, to Abide in Christ. My failure to love with a Christlike love is proof that my relationship and fellowship to you Lord Jesus is far from where it needs to be. Lord, do for me what I cannot do for myself. Bring me into a closer fellowship with you. Cleanse me of my unrighteousness and forgive me of my disobedience to your command to love. Thank you for loving me O gracious Lord, and enable me to love others the same.
