By Beth DeCristofaro
Beloved, we love God because he first loved us. … This is
the commandment we have from him: Whoever loves God must also love his brother. (1 John 4: 19,
21)
The Spirit of the
Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me (Luke 4:18)
Piety
My God, thank you for loving me first and loving me best.
Study
Recently, we visited young friends and so enjoyed watching them as they
delighted in their baby. The dad held her
up in the air watching her smile, tickling her tummy with his beard. Her grandma sat as she turned the page of a
big, sturdy book back and forth, back and forth, patiently marveling at
dexterity and the baby’s concentration on colors. All of us in the room just kept smiling at
the sense of wonder and penetrating love.
We all felt and acted goofy with the little sweetie.
How much more does God love us if God gave us the capacity to feel so
intensely about our own little ones?
Meditating on this becomes too powerful for me, quite candidly. My own children are so precious but,
honestly, some of my love is influenced by the wants, expectations and fears I
have for them. It isn’t completely
pure. All God wants is that we love
Him. And we love each other. Within ourselves we have the capacity to know
God’s love and once accepted, it can only grow and be given away.
Action
“I’m lovable, God don’t make junk.” My friends’ ten month old believes
this as best a baby could understand. In
what ways do I not believe, not accept God’s love, and not feel lovable? Jesus was anointed by His Father. His Father sent Jesus to each and every one
of us to open the gates of heaven and our own souls to this immense love. Ask for Jesus’ grace to open your heart even
further to find within the love of God planted their first.
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