“A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.” ~ Elbert Hubbard
Yesterday we reflected briefly upon joy. We reminded ourselves that we are headed to joy itself in Jesus Christ. Not only is Jesus our source of joy, He is also perfect love. Love is what the fourth candle of the Advent wreath represents and the theme of the Fourth Week of Advent. Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. Those four wondrous virtues are celebrated throughout the Advent season.
Jesus is love. He is pure love. He is unconditional love. He is merciful love. He is eternal love. He knows us intimately and loves us still. In our lives here on earth, we come to love others and lose love for others. Our love can be very fickle and self-serving. If that is the case, it is not love, at least not in the classic sense of God as love. God’s love is not fickle or self-serving. It is perfect always and forever.
Can we make it so that God does not love us? Not at all. God may become disappointed with our speech or our actions but He loves us still. That, I believe, is the hardest thing for most people to comprehend. I say that because we fall out of love with others quite easily. We also fall out of love with ourselves.
There are times that we look at ourselves with total contempt and loathing. When we do so, I imagine God’s eyes getting very big followed by a sad shake of His head. He loves us and He wants us to love ourselves as He loves us. He wants us to see how much He loves us.
For our part, we are often distracted by the world. We want to be loved and to see that we are loved. We can’t see God in a physical manner so we tend to turn to the world to love us. The world tells us we are loveable conditionally. If we act this way, if we do that, if we forget others and focus only on ourselves, if, if, if. But love is not conditional, at least not true love. Love, true love, God’s love, is absolutely unconditional.
It boggles our minds. We can see that when we do something nice for someone else. The first thing they might say is, “What is this for? What do I need to do? What do you want?” We cannot see that someone could love us simply because we exist.
FAITH ACTION: Accept the love God has for you and share that love with others this day.