JUNE 7 – LOVE – LOVE OF JESUS!

“By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (I John 3:16).

Let your first and full love be upon God. May you love our loving Saviour with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength.

How sweet the word love is! The parents long for the love of their children. The wife longs for the husband’s love and the husband for the wife’s.

But, they become dejected when they fail to attain the same. Life looks useless to them. It is our wonderful God who showers such pure and selfless love upon us. It is His nature to be with love. The Scripture says, “…love is of God” (I John 4:7).

Your love should begin from God and then spread into your family. You should love your families wholeheartedly. The Scripture says, “Husbands love your wives…… he who loves his wife loves himself” (Ephesians 5:25, 28).

Secondly, following the family that love should move towards others. The Scripture says, “Honour all people. Love the brotherhood” (I Peter 2:17). Love also your brothers and sisters. They also should be seen in heaven. Is it not? Love does not stop with this, and it induces you to love and lend a helping hand to the neighbours (Mathew 19:19, 22:39, Mark 12:31, Luke 10:27). Have you not been commanded to love others as you love yourself?

The love of Christ does not stop with that. It provides you with the grace to love your enemies. Jesus said, “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you” (Luke 6:27, 28).

You can love others under all circumstances. The love of God has been poured into you through the Holy Spirit. That love runs like a stream and induces you to love your family, brothers, neighbours and enemies.

Dear children of God, since God has given His life for you, you can know what love is. Will you dedicate yourself to lead a life worthy of that love of Calvary?

To meditate: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).