"Greater love has no man then this, that he lay down his life for his friends."
~ John 15:13
I've been reading through "A Gospel Primer" by Milton Vincent, and I came across the following quote about the above verse that I just loved:"...the deeper I go into the gospel, the more I experience the truth of His claim and thereby know how far His love for me surpasses even my own."
But Mr. Vincent didn't stop there. He went on to say:
"His astonishing love for me renders self-absorption moot and frees me up to move on to causes and interests far greater than myself."
Have you ever thought about it that way before. This has by far been one of the most impactful segments of the book for me. We live in a world that tells us that before we can love others, we have to learn to love ourselves. But that's not what the Bible says. The Bible says that if we want to truly love (ourselves or others) that we must first love Him. When we truly love God with all of our hearts, that the love that He has for us (and others) will trickle down to us, and will be expressed through us.
Yes, the world reminds us to love ourselves in order to survive. To build the self esteem of our kids in a world that's so negative, to avoid getting abused, used and stepped on.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the timely reminder that love starts with God. Loving God because He first loved us. Then that loves overflows to the other areas in our lives.
You're welcome, Janet. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog!
DeleteGod has been teaching me so much lately, and I'm so happy to share what I'm learning with others.