Fearfully and Wonderfully Made: Made for a Purpose—LOVED: Part II
(also see previous post: Fearfully and Wonderfully Made: Made for a Purpose—LOVED: Part I)
Lately, thanks to some inner work of the Holy Spirit, I have had the experience—wholly unrelated to my ability to “perform”—that GOD loves me; God LOVES me; God loves ME! Even in this very challenging season of the whole past year that has spanned family illnesses, the death of my mother and my sister-in-law, less-than-successful surgeries for myself and my husband, and the subsequent scaling back of work commitments that gave me “value”—essentially being forced into less doing than being…it has become uncannily clear that God’s love is above and beyond and prior to what I DO. God’s love is also separate from whether or not He answers all of my requests and desperate pleas with a “yes.” There have been a lot of “no’s” in my life this year from God. In spite of this, I am more and more convinced that His deep love surpasses all…is unfailing…and is trustworthy in and in spite of circumstances and my own abilities. You may be in a similar challenging season. I’m here to tell you that God’s love is trustworthy.
Once we know…experience…believe…rest in…are healed by… understand…are restored and transformed by God’s love…it WILL spill over into action. Actions like loving God back and loving ourselves and loving our neighbors:
In Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus Himself says that the actions that matter most are: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
Jesus’s disciple John says it this way: 1 John 4:7-12 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God…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. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
Take a moment to reflect:
--What is one way you are loving yourself these days?
--How does this spill over into loving your neighbor?
So…HOW do we do this?
In cooperation with His Spirit: Romans 5:5 tells us that “God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
And, some of Jesus’ instructions in John 15—are useful here. He says:
4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I—Jesus--am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (skipping down to v. 8) This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends…16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
Jesus says He loves us…and also commands us to “remain” “abide” in His love for us.
If you read the previous blog post (Fearfully and Wonderfully Made: Made for a Purpose—LOVED: Part I), you wrote the following: “I am precious and honored in God’s sight.” and “God loves me completely.”]
Take a moment now—on that same sheet of paper—to write “Jesus loves me”. And then write—“Lord, help me remain in Your love.”
What does Jesus say in these last teachings to His disciples before His death—are the most important thing/s He wants them—and us to remember?:
· You are Loved
· Abide in Jesus
· Love one another
· Bear much fruit
· Experience complete joy
· Know that you are chosen/appointed…to bear lasting fruit
· Love each other.
Our objective is not fruit-bearing. Our aim is to abide…to stay connected …firmly attached. From THAT comes the fruit.
Apart from Me. We cannot bear fruit—meaning character fruit like compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience (Colossians 3:12)--on our own. With Jesus, we will be abundantly fruitful--which glorifies God. When you cut off a branch or put cut flowers in a vase--how long before these things wither? How long before they die? Once severed, a stem cannot provide life to itself. Jesus says it is the same with us. If we are out of contact with…disconnected from…Him, we wither and we die—spiritually.
As you consider your calling and purpose, remember that your connection to Jesus is not just part of it—it is THE thing that matters, THE thing that empowers.
Continued in the next post: Fearfully and Wonderfully Made: Made for a Purpose—LOVED: Part III
Shirley Giles Davis, author of the God. Gifts. You. Your Unique Calling and Design workbook, Your Unique Design Class Guide, Your Unique Design Facilitator Guide, and Gifts-Calling-Purpose blog, is a consultant, coach, facilitator who has worked with faith-based organizations, nonprofit agencies, and leaders in a diversity of fields for over 30 years. She has also been Equipping Ministries Director at her church since 1999.
Photo © Shirley Giles Davis.
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