Mar 13 – The Power of Love !

“But You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption” (Isaiah 38:17).

In a certain town, there lived an elderly woman. She was known for her pride, arrogance, irritation, and anger. Because of her harsh nature, no one in the village wished to associate with her. She had no friends. Believing that money could accomplish everything, she lived a lonely and isolated life.

A loving pastor was newly appointed to that town. Feeling a burden for this woman, he went to visit her. However, she neither welcomed him nor invited him into her house.

Yet he did not give up. Whenever he visited, he brought fruits and simple gifts. He determined to win her through love. Even then she did not trust him. “At first they come showing love like this; later they will deceive you,” she would say, keeping her distance.

Still, the pastor did not lose heart. He showed even greater love. He looked for the good qualities in her and sincerely appreciated them. He praised the neatness and cleanliness of her home. He admired her garden. After many days, the elderly woman realized that this pastor possessed genuine, divine love.

Touched by his compassion, she visited his church. There, contrary to her expectations, everyone showed her warmth and affection. A great transformation began in her life. She too started showing love toward others.

Love is a divine tender shoot. It is a flower that spreads the fragrance of heaven. Among the nine fruits of the Spirit, love is the sweetest fruit.

Consider the love of our Lord. Before we ever loved Him, He loved us and came seeking us. In other religions, man searches for God—wandering through temples and sacred places seeking the Divine. But in Christianity alone, God came seeking man. He came to seek and save that which was lost. He came to find the one lost sheep.

When Peter, not yet fully understanding this love, denied Jesus out of fear of the Jews and the soldiers. But the Lord’s love for him did not diminish. Jesus turned and looked at Peter. That loving glance awakened him. Realizing that he had denied such a loving Lord, Peter was convicted in his heart and wept bitterly.

Dear children of God, was it not the exalted love of Jesus that restored the denying Peter and established him again as a disciple, making him a mighty apostle?

Verse for further meditation: “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18).