Gift of Love

 

The Gift of Love.  When I read about Jesus’ time on earth, it amazes me that with every step He took, He shared His love.  Each parable, each miracle, each conversation, and even each moment of discipline, He shared His love for those around Him.  I must admit I am often envious of the disciples.  To have the experience of walking side by side with Jesus during his ministry and being able to feel His love pour out upon those He met must have been incredible.  Yet, we do have that experience, every day.

We are blessed to have Jesus’ love blanket us as we rise each morning and as we lay down our head each evening.  Jesus’ love is with us each moment of the day, just as it was for the disciples.  We know this because He laid down His life for us, AND ROSE AGAIN, so that we would be able to walk each day with Him.  Jesus not only rode into Jerusalem on a colt for us but endured the long journey to Golgotha for us.  He not only had people share, “Hosanna in the highest”, but also heard the shouts of “Crucify Him”.  All of that, each step Jesus took on earth was to show us how much He loves us.    Every moment of every day His love reigns down upon us.  Revel in that for a moment.  Let His loving arms hold you close as you reflect on that wonder.

Now it is our turn.  How can we show Jesus our love for Him?  Believe it or not, it is easy!  All He asks of us is to love one another.  Have faith in Him and share His love with others.

Be with those in need.  When we listen to what people are going through, we often say, “I know what you mean” when we don’t or say “I can only imagine what you’re going through” when we cannot.  We can, however, do something powerful for them.  We can love them, right where they are – in their pain and hurt.  We can love them without judgement.  We can love them by holding their hand and praying for them.  Through those actions the true love that Jesus gave to us can be poured on another. 

On this Palm Sunday as we reflect upon Jesus’ entering Jerusalem to shouts of Hosanna and palms raised high, may we remember the journey He was headed for – the journey of love that He was taking for us.  That journey would result in being betrayed and denied by disciples, being spat upon, and whipped, wearing a crown of thorns, carrying a cross as people scoffed him, and finally being crucified.  All of this because Jesus loved us – so much He was willing to die in our place.  May we love others as He has asked us to! 

Dearest Jesus, your gift of love is so great that it is difficult for us to fathom.  Your journey on this earth ended in your crucifixion, which was all done for us because you love us.  May we reflect upon your deep love for us this Holy Week.  May we spend time sharing the love with others that you so graciously gave to us, Jesus.  In your loving name we pray.  Amen!

 

Gift of Forgiveness

 

Forgiveness is an action that is easier said than done!  Many times, we can say to others, “I forgive you,” walk away, and continue to hold onto the thing you just forgave.  I know this has certainly been the case for me, instances when someone has deeply hurt me and may have asked for forgiveness.  I will typically say something like, “no problem”, but will hold onto it for several days.  The other person has moved on, but I have not.  The longer I hold onto it, the more resentment sets in.

Forgiveness is an action.  There must be an active role on the person who is forgiving another to not only say, “I forgive you”, but to truly let it go.  When a person forgives another, absolute forgiveness, kindness is shared.  When someone has truly forgiven me, I feel closer to that person.  The relationship is deeper.  Yet, true forgiveness is not an easy action.  Letting go of hurt and anger is tough for us.  We want justice, we want the other person to suffer.  They may not “deserve” our forgiveness.  The reality is, when I have forgiven a person, true forgiveness, not only is it showing kindness, but MY burden is lifted. 

When I think of my relationship with Jesus and all I have sinned against him, I cannot imagine why he would want to forgive me.  I have hurt him, angered him, of this I am certain.  He has every right to want me to suffer and receive justice for my sins.  Yet, with his incredible gift of forgiveness, I can wake each day knowing that Jesus has said, “I forgive you, walk with your head high.”  Jesus’ incredible gift of forgiveness makes me fully understand how deeply he loves me and how close our relationship is.  He is doing all the forgiving; all I need to do is ask.

As we walk through this Lenten season, may we reflect on our sins and how Jesus pours his forgiveness upon each one of us.  His act of forgiveness provides us a closer relationship to him.  Let us be kind and tenderhearted to those that may have hurt us.  Provide forgiveness, true forgiveness, and let the relationships grow deeper.  I know that many of us have deep hurts that may find it hard to be forgiven.  Think of how much we have hurt Jesus with our actions and may the gift of forgiveness flow from you as it has from Jesus.

Dearest Jesus, may we provide forgiveness to those that have hurt us as you have provided forgiveness to us.  Help us to show kindness and compassion in the action of forgiveness and may relationships grow deeper.  Thank you for providing us with the perfect role model of forgiveness.  In your name we pray.  Amen!

 

Gift of Peace

 

As I mature (notice how I did not say get older!), I have come to realize there are many things that I seem to need in my daily life.  I need happiness and kindness, given and received.  I need a good laugh – the belly laugh kind.  I need a memory that makes me smile.  I need time to reflect.  Yet, what I seem to need most is peace.  I am not sure why peace seems to be so especially important to me. 

Maybe peace means so much to me because there were times in my life when I did not have peace – and those were hard times.  Times when cancer was in my body.  Times when my first marriage was falling apart.  Times when my dad’s health was slipping in front of us.  Those are life-changing hard times.  Yet, there were times in my daily life where peace seemed to be aloof.  Challenging days at work.  Difficult days with the children.  Days when nothing seemed to go right.  I am sure all of you have experienced those days as well – days of unsettling circumstances that rid you of hope and joy and fill you with anxiousness and worry.

In walks a gift of Jesus – peace.  For me, Jesus’ peace is one of His greatest gifts and one that I hold so deep in my heart.  I have learned (in my maturity), that relying on Jesus versus relying on myself can give me the peace I need.    It is not easy to let Jesus have reign in my life.   I am one of those “controlling” people.  I like to be in control of my path and my situations.  Yet, that is not Jesus’ plan for my life.  When I give the reigns to Jesus, I feel that peace I so much long for wash over my mind and my heart.  It is as if Jesus is saying, “There you go – I knew you would let me do the driving”! 

Those times in my life when peace has rushed over me have been powerful moments – transformational moments.  I may have lost my own control, but God had it all under control.  Now, daily, I look for that peace in the little things.  I could be sipping on a wonderful cup of coffee and I take a deep breath and thank Him for another day.  It is when I see a beautiful sunrise and realize only God’s hand can produce such beauty.  It is when I go to Jesus in prayer of a frustration, and I know He will guide me through it.  The gift of peace happens “…at all times and in every way.”  It is up to us to be washed over with Jesus’ peace and hold it close to us.  I ask us all to take the time and experience Jesus’ gift of peace.  It is with us; we just need to let ourselves experience it.

Dearest Jesus, your peace, the peace that passes all understanding, is a wonderful gift you have given to each of us.  Help us to take the time to come to you in prayer and ask you to help us feel and see this wonderful peace.  In tough times and every-day life, may we experience your peace when we give ourselves to you.  Amen.

Gift of Righteousness

 

Self-Righteous people!  Yes, you know those people – the ones that are always right.  Their way is the ‘right’ way, your way, not so much.  Righteous impedes into the moralistic side, how one should live their life, how they should act.  Self-righteous people tend to judge others for living their lives differently than they “ought” to live their lives – making those around them feel inferior.  Now that I have explained this a bit more, do you know anyone who may be self-righteous?  More importantly, do you fall into this arena?

Probably one of the greatest examples of self-righteous people comes from the Bible.  The Pharisees demonstrated self-righteousness at its finest.  They believed that they practiced strict observance of the law and ceremonies, yet they did so without any regard to the spiritual side of what they were doing.  They looked down upon those that did not observe as they did (such as Jesus when he healed the sick on the Sabaoth) and defined themselves better than others.  Not something to be proud of.

So how can righteousness be a gift from God?  As Christians, we use the word righteous to guide our path on how to morally live our lives.  As Christians, we know we will never be righteous.  We may try to live to the laws God gave us as.  We may try to do right things such as living servant-filled lives, loving others, giving to all, etc.  Yet, what we know is because we are sinners, we will never be righteous people.  No matter how many ‘good works’ we aim for, we will never be righteous in God’s eyes.

Jesus’ gift of righteousness comes from one thing and one thing only, our faith in Jesus Christ.  By believing in Jesus and his salvation, we become righteous in God’s eyes.  Only through faith is that gift given to us.  It is Jesus’ gift of righteousness that reigns over us.  This does not mean we should not try to live our lives by the path provided to us in the Bible.  What we need to possess is a sense of humbleness before God and others, knowing we are not righteous on our own accord, but we are righteous in the name of Jesus.  Praise be to God – the holy and righteous one!

Jesus, we thank you that you have given us the gift of righteousness.  We know that we will never be able to stand before you on our own on the Judgement Day.  Yet, with you beside us, we will be able to stand proudly, knowing that your gift of righteousness prevails.