Someone has said,
“Tell me, I’ll forget.
Show me, I may remember.
But INVOLVE me and I’ll understand.”
(anonymous bulletin clipping)
Reading this I immediately thought of the greatest teacher to ever walk the face of this earth. That Master Teacher is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. Because God loved, He gave His Son. (John 3:16) And Jesus, in various ways, tried to get the world to realize God is not an angry Being to be afraid of, but rather a Loving Heavenly Father Who desires the very best for mankind.
HE TOLD OF IT! Through parables such as the lost lamb and the lost son (Luke 15) Jesus illustrated God’s great love. Through the teaching on loving our enemies (Matt. 5:43-47) Jesus laid out the principles of interaction in this life.
HE SHOWED IT! Through Jesus’ interaction with the disciples and toward others — as well as His willingness to fulfill His mission — we see the great selfless love of God.
John recorded. . .
“(1) Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” (John 13:1 ESV)
Not even Jesus’ impending death on the cross sidetracked Him from acting in love toward the disciples. Reading on we see the extent of His love being shown through the willingness to serve in even the humblest way in washing His disciples’ feet. Even Judas received that loving attention.
Jesus then showed the ultimate of God’s love through the giving of Himself on the cross for our sins. As Paul wrote. . .
“(8) but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 ESV)
Do we hear the love? Do we see the love? But do we understand the love? Can we understand a love like God’s? Can we comprehend a love so selfless? [Lord Willing, we’ll consider that aspect tomorrow]
Have a great day FOCUSED ON THE TOLD / SHOWN LOVE OF GOD.
Carl
