Good Morning All,
1
John 4:19; “We love because he first loved us.”
In
the early 1970’s there as a song that was popular called “Teach Your Children
Well.” The basic message was to teach
your children about your life and they will teach you about their life and we
will all understand each other better.
Granted it is a little corny, but there is a kernel of truth in what
they are saying.
From the very beginning of Scriptures we
are told to be sure and teach the children.
In Deuteronomy God, through Moses, tells his people to teach your
children what I have commanded you. We
are to do it when we get up, or when we eat or when we lie down. Teaching our children is a very important
part of our faith walk. It is through
teaching that we pass down the truths that we know about God and our salvation.
Of all the truths that we teach our
children, probably the most important is about love. Love is important because it is a gift, pure
and simple, that we give to others. We
cannot charge others for it; we cannot make them earn it or expect them to deserve
it; love is a gift that we give away.
Love moves us to do things for others knowing that they may never be
able to repay or reciprocate. When
knowing that doesn’t impact our desire to act; that is love. Love in its purest form is an act self-sacrifice. Love in its purest form places the other
person completely and entirely ahead of yourself. We struggle to try and do this but we often
fail. Yet we have a great teacher
because we see this in the fact the God loved us first.
We see this by the great and extraordinary
action which took place on Calvary. God
gave his Son to die for us. God gave his
complete love for us. He gave to us
salvation and hope. He pulled us from
the jaws of despair and abject darkness and brought us back into his marvelous
light. His love for us never ends and it
continues to renew us, restore us and to give us hope. God teaches us how to love and now he wants
us to love.
We say it so easily; it rolls off of the
tongue. Yet so often we do not
love. We demand, we expect, we cajole,
we become angry, we look upon others with disgust ad disappointment but we do
not love. Unfortunately, it is often those
who are the closest to us who feel this wrath.
So we struggle and we will never win on our own but we can overcome as
long as we look to the cross and continually look to our ultimate and perfect
example of love. So we keep trying struggling
with life and its challenges but with God’s love we keep going.
Knowing that we struggle even as God’s love
is for us; we must also recognize that others struggle as well and that at
times when we don’t feel their love, God’s grace keeps it there. We need to remember our battles and then
forgive others when they stumble in theirs.
None of us are perfect, so God calls upon us to forgive and to continue
to love.
Father
of all things good, give us the Spirit of love and forgiveness. Help us to remember that to love is the
greatest gift we can give. Teach us to
love as you love us. Even as we fail,
pick us up and give us the courage to love again. Help us to reach out to those whom we have
not loved as we should. Lead us to ask
for forgiveness and give all involved the power to forgive. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret
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