Because God loves me

Understanding Christian Stewardship #2 by Peter J. Blackburn

The best-known and best-loved verse in the Bible is undoubtedly –

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3.16)

Wonderful words! But what does it mean to "believe in" Jesus? Is it just a sort of intellectual tick that says, "Yes, I agree with that"? or is it a commitment to a whole life and a whole new life-style? Just what is this "eternal life" all about? Is it a comfy "pie in the sky when you die"? or is it a dynamic that expresses itself in all that we say and do here and now?

In his first letter, John says some striking things about God and love. "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God… God is love," he insists. "We love because he first loved us… Anyone who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen… Whoever loves God must also love his brother" (1 John 1.7,16,19-21).

Some people have thought of the love of God as a great ideal that brings us a sense of safety and stability. But it goes much further than that, for God who is Love stirs us – motivates us, empowers us – to love. If we aren’t stirred into action, we haven’t grasped – and been grasped by – the great love of God for us and in us.

In Jeremiah 31.3, we hear the Lord saying, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness." Later in that same chapter, the Lord speaks of the new covenant he is going to make with his people – "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts" (vv. 31-34).

Jesus made it clear that our response to his love will be seen in action. Listen to Jesus as he talks with his disciples – "If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever…" (John 14.15,16).

In January 1858 Frances Ridley Havergal saw a painting of Christ with the crown of thorns. Underneath was placed the caption, "All this have I done for you; what are you doing for me?" She wrote a hymn which ends with the words, "Thou gav’st Thyself for me; I give myself to Thee."

Because God loves me… Yes, that stirs my love, my action. To what extent are my life and actions motivated by God’s love for me, and by his love within me for others? Because God loves me… how should I live – and give?