As the Father Loved Me


As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. (John 15:9 ESV)

Your mission, your calling, does not disqualify you from the love of Christ, not matter how rocky or rough. The low estate you find yourself in does not break the great pact of His faithful love for you. Your level is suffering is not inversely proportionate to the level of His love for you. Christ’s love is just as passionate and eternal as the Father’s love is for Him.

Love, like joy, is not circumstantial. It finds not its source in current conditions or lack of emotional turmoil. The joy of the Lord is your strength; a joy that is not sourced in the temporal but finds it’s rich flow and lavished abundance in the eternal- in the Eternal One. And so is the love of Christ towards you who have received Him.

This great love has been shared between the Father and the Son for all eternity, and when Jesus says He loves us as the Father loves Him, He is speaking not of a fair weather friend, but rather an eternal and abiding love; a love that will not quit, a love that will not let you go. He loves us with an everlasting love.

καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν - and the Word was with God (John 1:1b). Jesus and the Father faced one another in an eternally intimate and shameless love. Literally, the Word was towards the Father. Unbreakable, perfect union. This is what Jesus had in mind when He spoke of His love for you in John 15:9.

It may seem odd to say this, but this scripture is one of my favorites on suffering, because it redefines love. Love does not say, "You'll never suffer under my watch." No, this love looks beyond selfish ideals and speaks of an amazing shared love. The Father’s love for His Son was great, yet it was not blind to our desperate need. He saw our condition, sinners in need of a Savior, and provided the only possible answer, the sacrifice of His Son; His willing and obedient Son. Jesus was not forced to lay down His life, but laid it down willingly because He loved us.

And so Jesus May call you, as He called Paul the apostle, to suffer for the sake of others. This is not a loveless call in any way, in fact it is a call to greater love, to shared love. For can we really call love that is not shared, love? Know this, Jesus has walked the path He is asking you to walk. And in your toughest times, His love is not diminished, no, it is actually increased through your obedience to the call to love another.

So the next time you are called to lay down your own desire, your own comfort, know this- you are still loved deeply, you are still held tightly and His plans for you are not to end in tragedy or loss, but are good, and will end in glory.


Scripture References

The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness." (Jeremiah 31:3 NIV)

No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded. (John 10:18 NLT)






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