When Jesus was questioned concerning the greatest commandment, a most familiar passage but seldom practiced, his answer was simply stated: love toward God. In other words the greatest obligation we have is to love God. We are commanded to give to God our chief affection. To reject every other affection and desire until we have fixed Him as first and originatior of all others.
Subtle and implicit in his answer, however, was the underlying principle of pre-existing, infinite, permanent, sacrificial and enduring love that God possesses and expresses toward us. In other words, we are able to make Him our chief affection because He made us the object of His. Unless God lavishes us with His love - our cupboard remains bare, our well is stone dry - and thus we have no will or capacity to love. But because, as the disciple John reminds us, God first loved us, He has made us capable of love. He has rebirthed in us a strange capacity to put God first in our lives and to love Him with an intensity never felt before. But it is not just love for God that is birthed in us, who in some ways is easy to love because He is so intrinsically and undeniably loveable, but love also and even especially for those who have injured us, have wounded us, even have hated us. And for some of us who have injured even ourselves, experiencing an immersion into God’s love for us makes us capable of forgiving and loving even ourselves!
I remember when I was a youth minister in Chattanooga, TN there was a young and beautiful Christian girl in our youth group. Late one night her house was broken into and her life was tragically and brutally taken from her. Her mother, when given the opportunity, visited the man who murdered her daughter while in prison. Amazingly, she pronounced her forgiveness toward the murderer and shared with him the eternal love of Christ for his soul.
The recent story of the forgiving Amish community in Pennsylvania toward the lunatic who went on a murderous rampage in their children’s schoolhouse is another example of mysterious grace and love. The natural man is incapable of such charity. Only the man who is baptized into a deeper perspective, and is existing on a higher plain because of his awakening to the redemptive love of God for sinners, can enter into this level of mercy.
This is why Christ said to us to love our enemies. Only the person who deeply understands how much enmity he possessed toward God can appreciate this principle. We are called to something greater, deeper and higher than most, if not any men and women ever accomplish or achieve. We are called to love. We are called to receive it then to spread it. However, the receiving of this love is not a single act or event in the life of the Christian. Only until recently in my spiritual pilgrimage have I come to more fully appreciate the need of my soul to crawl up into the lap of my heavenly Father on a continual even hourly basis. I have to remind myself to fall into the loving and outstretched arms of Jesus whenever situations beg for me to become distraught, hurt or bitter. I must be filled more than daily with the perspective of Christ’s conditionless affection for me. As the hymnist said, “I need thee, oh I need Thee. Every hour I need thee.”
What about you my friend? Who do you need to forgive? Have you taken the time to crawl into the lap of your forgiving Father? Only then can you forgive. Only then can you love.
No comments:
Post a Comment