Jesus' Wondrous Gift: Life Lovingly Given
Daily Scripture
John 15:9-16
9 “As the Father loved me, I too have loved you. Remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have said these things to you so that my joy will be in you and your joy will be complete. 12 This is my commandment: love each other just as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than to give up one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I don’t call you servants any longer, because servants don’t know what their master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because everything I heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You didn’t choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you could go and produce fruit and so that your fruit could last. As a result, whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
We may be prone to read these verses in John as merely “sweet” or “touching.” We must not miss the passage’s note of gritty determination: “No one has greater love than to give up one’s life for one’s friends” (verse 13). Jesus said that in the hours just before his arrest and crucifixion. Why was he on a resolute path that led to the cross? It was to show, as clearly as possible, the depth of his love for that motley group of followers (and all who would come after them).
- Jesus surely spoke to the disciples in Aramaic. But he lived, and taught his followers to live, in a way John captured by using the Greek word “agape”—tough, tireless love. “God does not merely tolerate sinners: he loves them…. God for all his ability to punish and for all his own spotless purity does not regard sinners with aversion, but… with the costly love we see in the cross where Jesus died to save them.” * What is the message of Jesus directly linking “love” to giving his life?
- Jesus began John 15:9 with ten key words: “As the Father loved me, I too have loved you.” As the moon reflects the sun’s light, our love for others reflects God’s love for us. In what practical ways do you live out Jesus’ example by loving God and others? To what extent are you able to follow Jesus in seeing self-giving, not self-gratification, as key to the kind of love that makes life truly worth living?
Prayer
O Lord, help me increasingly to love, not as an outward disguise that conceals anger or pain, but from my heart as your love overflows and bubbles out of me to bless others. Amen.
GPS Insights
Melanie Hill
Melanie Hill, who serves as the Director of Operations at Resurrection's West location, wrote today’s Insight. She is a Navy mom and mom of three teen daughters, a wife of 24 years, and an avid fan of nachos.
This month has been a whirlwind at the Hill house. It began celebrating my 25th wedding anniversary, followed quickly by about a dozen track and swim meets and culminating (thus far) this past weekend with senior prom and a 16th birthday celebration. Whew! And the month is only half done!
I’ve been cultivating a lifeline to my sanity through my morning devotional times, often utilizing the GPS each day. It’s a moment to take a deep breath and connect with the Creator before my hectic day begins. The passages I read this morning were particularly impactful. After all, who doesn’t want to hear they are loved? I love these passages and have read them many times over the years and often they speak to me in new ways. This day was no exception–what caught my attention was the second question in the response guide.
“As the Father loved me, I too have loved you.” As the moon reflects the sun’s light, our love for others reflects God’s love for us. It made me think of a mirror and the way it reflects what it sees back. That naturally led me to think about my kids. I’ve spent a lot of time in the past few weeks taking them to track meets, swim meets and celebrations and there’s nothing like a captive audience to hear and see how your kids are doing. It’s a love/hate relationship being the taxi mom. While I hate having to fill up my car every other day to keep up with them, I LOVE the time I have with them one on one.
And that’s where the mirror comes in. Am I reflecting the Father’s love to my kids? I know I’m not the only parent who debates this with themselves. As I thought of the image of a mirror, I started to think of all the times over the past few weeks that I have seen my kids mirror back God’s love to me.
It was in the sneak peek I got of my oldest daughter’s senior “This I Believe” statement that she has been working on in her Student Ministry small group where she talked about her love of Christian community that she discovered on a mission trip to Poland.
It was in the knock on my door where a handyman who was working on my neighbors’ house returned a pitcher of lemonade that my daughter (totally without my knowledge) had set out for the workers in case they got thirsty.
It was in the care my daughter showed to her friend who didn’t make the cheerleading team.
In all these ways, and many others, my kids were reflecting back God’s love. And the best part? I didn’t make them do it! They took the initiative on their own. I had the stunning realization that just maybe I’m not totally failing at this mom thing. Of course, I can’t take all the credit. My kids are surrounded by a multitude of great adults who love them. It’s like placing them in a hall of mirrors, each one reflecting God’s love to them. And that’s the secret sauce because while I wish my kids only mirrored the good they see in me they also mirror the stuff I wish they didn’t. My sarcasm. My temper. I could go on and on but I won’t.
Today’s passage reminded me of what I want to reflect to my kids. What kind of mirror will I be? Will I choose to love like the Father loved even when I don’t agree with someone, even when I am frustrated with them, even when I’m tired? And what are my kids seeing in me? As we reflect on this passage today may we also reflect on how we are echoing God’s love to a world that desperately needs to see a picture of the Father.
© 2024 Resurrection: A United Methodist Church. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* Leon Morris, article “Love” in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1992, p. 494.
