Wed. Dec 23
"LOVE EACH OTHER AS I HAVE LOVED YOU." (JN 15:12 NIV)
"How Would Jesus Handle This?"
Are you complaining because someone has disappointed you? Are you keeping score when it comes to gift giving, initiating phone calls, or picking up the tab? Are you upset because you feel like you give more than you get? Jesus experienced all these things - and more. His closest friends let Him down. Those He called and counted on, often proved to be unreliable and immature. They learned slowly, and usually the hard way. One doubted Him, one denied Him, one even betrayed Him. Yet He forgave them and loved them anyway. "Having loved his own... he loved them unto the end" (Jn 12:1). Jesus loved His friends not because they were worthy of His love, but because His love made them worthy. Love does that!
In Knowing God, J.J. Packer writes, "There is tremendous relief in knowing that God's love for me is based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst in me. No discovery can disillusion Him in the way I'm often so disillusioned about myself, or quench His determination to bless me. There is great cause for humility in the thought that He sees all the twisted things about me that others don't see. Indeed, He sees more corruption in me than I see in myself. Yet He wants to be my friend, and desires to be my friend, and has given His son to die for me in order for me to realize this purpose." So before you react in anger, remember God's grace. Use His Son as your role model and ask yourself, "How would Jesus handle this?"
In Knowing God, J.J. Packer writes, "There is tremendous relief in knowing that God's love for me is based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst in me. No discovery can disillusion Him in the way I'm often so disillusioned about myself, or quench His determination to bless me. There is great cause for humility in the thought that He sees all the twisted things about me that others don't see. Indeed, He sees more corruption in me than I see in myself. Yet He wants to be my friend, and desires to be my friend, and has given His son to die for me in order for me to realize this purpose." So before you react in anger, remember God's grace. Use His Son as your role model and ask yourself, "How would Jesus handle this?"
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