“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do what I command you.” John15:12-14
This week at our church, Morgan spoke about the furious love of God. He told us how Jesus taught that God is our Abba Father, our “Dada” who not only loves us, but likes us. I was suddenly struck with how we have heard “For God so loved the world”, and we have sung “Jesus loves me” so much we might not always consciously be aware of what a miracle that is. He referenced Romans, and how we have been given a spirit of adoption.
Adoption. Fatherlessness turned upside down. Overcoming-all-odds, unconditional love because love is who He is, and loving His children is what He does. Amazing.
So, here is how Jesus loved us: by dying for us so that we could know the Father. He suffered soo we could be adopted. It all happened so you and I could know love, feel love. And we are his friends when we love past the pain, past the discomfort, past the selfishness screaming out, “What about ME???”
Usually I am far too concerned with how things are going for me to worry about what I am giving up for others. I am thinking stuff like “Am I saving enough for retirement?” Or “Am I getting the vitamins I need from my diet that consists mostly of what my children have refused to eat?” There are my noble thoughts like “Am I using the best skincare products for my skin type?” Or the very self-sacrificing, “How many times am I going to have to clean this kitchen table today?!!!”
But I am learning. It is a hard row to hoe around here if you don’t embrace the sacrifice. Slowly, surely, the blessing of loving like He has loved me is becoming more precious to me than any other part of my life.
From that place of seeking to be less important and more loving gushes a secret fountain of holy friendship. When my selfish thoughts die and I look for people who need love I find myself filled with God’s friendship. I can feel his joy. I can see His glory. We are His friends if we do what He commands. We are His friends if we love others more than ourselves. Counting the blessing of adoption as the ultimate place of security is how true freedom flourishes. The richest life can be found in this secret place. True love, real love, forever love.
So I will clean the table (again!!!), slap on whatever lotion I grabbed at Target last week, trust that the wisdom we need for our future is in God’s hands, and try be kind to the lady I meet at the grocery. Then I will help my children get lunch, read to them and take them swimming. Later I will cook my husband’s favorite meal and pray God helps Morgan to be who He has asked him to be today. Then I will talk to my sweet neighbor and look for a way to do more to help her, and pray for her too. After that I will play Scrabble with the boys while Finley colors a princess and we will all cheer when Daddy walks through the door.
I do all this and seek to do much more because of the love He gives that I cannot earn. I can’t earn it, but I can prove its value by proving I am His.
Adoption. Fatherlessness turned upside sown.
