Love Demonstrated

Love Demonstrated

God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. –Romans 5:8 (NIV)

David often points out that Hope and Gabe gave us a rare opportunity. Their very lives called us to love on a higher plane and at a deeper level. “Much of what we do for our children is to prepare them for adulthood or to generate gratitude one day,” David likes to say. “But in caring for Hope and Gabe, we knew they would never grow up and thank us. We didn’t love them for any future reward or result. We simply loved them and cared for their needs. And it was, perhaps, the greatest privilege of our lives.”

Don’t get me wrong. There was no heroism involved here, no sense of sacrifice on our part. Hope and Gabe were easy to love—perhaps easier to love in their innocence and neediness. We loved them with the same kind of love every parent feels—the kind that wakes you up in the middle of the night to feed a hungry baby and keeps you awake in the middle of the night waiting on a wandering teenager. Parenthood is, perhaps, the closest taste we’re given of what it is like to love in a divine way. But even so, we know we fall short. As amazed as we can be at the heroic level of love that seems instinctive as parents, we are equally as surprised by the cruelty we have the ability to inflict.

Divine love is demonstrated in sacrificial dimensions. Ultimate love was expressed in the ultimate sacrifice—the God of the universe on a cross dying for people who don’t even care about him or take an interest in him. See him there showing us what it really means to love expecting nothing in return, showing us what real love costs. This is our example to follow, our plumb line to measure our lives against. If we want to love, we must be prepared to demonstrate—not just discuss—sacrificial love.

What is God calling you to sacrifice in order to love others well? Is he calling you out of your comfort zone, up from your self-pity, away from your self-protection? Who are you being called to love in a sacrificial way? Does the example of Jesus compel you to love someone well who does not appreciate the sacrifice inherent in your love?

My divine Lover, knowing how I hate to be inconvenienced, I feel completely incapable of loving at a sacrificial level. Show me the joy of loving in a way that sacrifices and serves, and make my life a demonstration of divine love.

DIGGING DEEPER