i (eric) am realizing how self-centered i am. when i say ‘i love you,’ i often mean ‘i love what you do for me’ or ‘i love when you serve me/help me/make me feel good.’
last week, ken’s sermon really hit home the fact that God’s word preaches a different kind of love. a self-sacrificing love, not a self-serving love. when God says He loves me, He shows me by sending His Son to die. i love you = i will give up what is most precious to me for you, so that you may call me ‘Abba,’ Father.
when i say ‘i love you,’ i want to mean it. i want to back my words with a heart that puts you first. i want the meaning of the words i say to be seen in actions of self-sacrificing love. how does one truly love like that? impossible without Christ. i need to pray about this, because i need God.
“this is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 john 4:9-11
Tags: Thoughts
