Love gives!
For
God so loved the world that He gave…
In his book “Love Does”, Bob Goff points
out that love is not so much a feeling, as an energy that has to be discharged.
God so loved you and I, in spite of our profound offense against His holiness,
that
He gave His one and only Son…
The extravagant love energy of the Godhead
was discharged in an unprecedented act of giving that transformed the course of
all of human history, and will continue to ring throughout eternity for all
eternity! God loves so deeply that He did not merely give humanity something
out of heaven’s plentiful resources: He did not sprinkle a blessing or two, or
dispatch an angel, or convey an encouraging message, or provide a quick answer
to prayer.
He gave Himself.
Love is self-giving – the giving of self
to another.
The sacrifice of Jesus did not begin when
He submitted Himself to the agony of the cross on our behalf. The sacrifice of
Jesus began when He stepped down from heaven’s throne, shed His royal robes,
set aside His kingly crown… And instead took on the form of a helpless baby,
dependent on the very humanity He had Himself created!
His sacrifice continued as He gave up the
perfection of heaven to instead walk through all the mess of humanity - along
with its wrongdoing and pain and treachery and fear and betrayal – and
everything else that goes with a fallen world. Although it must have been a
stench to His holiness, He walked right through the middle of it all, showing
no distaste for the refuse He walked amongst, discharging His unflagging love
energy through the giving of Himself tirelessly
to those who were hurting
to those in despair
to those who were sin-sick
to those trapped in bondage from
which they could not free themselves
to those who responded with disdain
to those who rejected Him and the
love He offered…
He looked past all of this into the depth
of the fractured human heart, and forgave…
Love is not only giving… it is forgiving!
As we celebrate the baby born as Emmanuel,
“God with us”, we remember that through Him, God has made us the recipients of
the gift of His lavish, undeserved, self-giving, forgiving, extravagant love,
poured out into our impoverished hearts and lives.
At this time of year, we may strain our
brains and our bank accounts in an effort to come up with the “perfect gift”
for others. Often we lose sight of the truth that we give these gifts in
remembrance and celebration of the greatest gift ever given - by God Himself.
But stay! Can we cease our frenetic
activity for a moment, and consider the question: “what is that you have in
your hand”? For as recipients of the overwhelming gift of God’s love deluging
and delighting our lives, we have a gift of unprecedented value to give away:
The same love, given to us by God, spilling from our lives…
giving love
self-giving love
forgiving love
… gifted into the lives
of others who are
hurting
in despair
sin-sick
trapped in bondage from which they
cannot free themselves…
and yes! Also the giving of self in love, into the
lives of those who
treat us with disdain
reject and hurt us
don't "deserve" it...
Why? Because the cry of a Baby who humbled
Himself for the sake of love, echoes in the cry of a Savior who sacrificed
Himself and suffered for the sake of that same love. He it is who beckons you
and I now, to follow by the way of His cross, allowing Love’s great cry of
grace and mercy to echo through our lives.
“Freely
you have received, freely give” (Matt.10:8).
Now that’s
a gift!
Love gives.
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