Oh, How He Loves Us! :: By Nathele Graham
“We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
February is a short month but one with many celebrations, starting with Groundhog Day. That isn’t a major holiday but one I loved when I was young. It was fun thinking that on a certain day, a rodent could predict the weather. Well, that may or may not be true, but it is fun.
In America, we celebrate President’s Day. We used to celebrate Abraham Lincoln’s birthday separately from George Washington’s birthday, but that gave us too many holidays in one month, so we lumped all the presidents together into one holiday.
Then there’s that day to celebrate love. Valentine’s Day. Heads up, men, it’s almost here. Are you thinking of the perfect romantic evening with your lady love? My husband always got off easy on Valentine’s Day. A peanut butter cup was all I needed to be happy. Sometimes he would buy a few red roses if he wanted to splurge. I always baked him a heart-shaped cake.
Let’s talk about love. People “love” many things. A car, a dog, or a favorite restaurant are all things that can make us feel warm and fuzzy inside, but is that the feeling of true love? They are all temporary and not very meaningful. What about true love…the love of God? Have you ever given that pure and perfect love much thought? God loved you before you were ever conceived and had special plans for your life. God told the prophet Jeremiah, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5).
What plans does God have for you? He loves you with a special love that cannot be matched by human love.
OH, HOW HE LOVES YOU AND ME
By Kurt Kaiser
Oh, how He loves you and me
Oh, how He loves you and me.
He gave His life, what more could He give;
Oh, how He loves you
Oh, how He loves me,
Oh, how He loves you and me.
God’s love for us cannot be compared to the human emotion we feel. We humans can feel a deep love for our spouse, our parents, and our children, but there’s no human love that can compare to God’s divine love. He loves us even when we aren’t faithful to Him.
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Quite often, when a person speaks of love, they really mean lust, or else they speak of a superficial love for a car or a dog or a boyfriend/girlfriend. The deeper love of God is something very special. Jesus came and called us to be His Bride, not a one-night stand. The Apostle Paul uses Christ’s love as an example of how a marriage should work.
“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word” (Ephesians 5:25-26).
Wives are to submit to their own husbands. A God-honoring man is easy to respect and trust.
“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing” (Ephesians 5:22-24).
In our society today, woman’s lib and a woke agenda have done much to destroy family. If a man puts Christ first, it’s easy for a woman to submit to his leadership. This doesn’t mean the husband berates or brutalizes the wife into submission, but it does mean there’s a mutual love and respect for each other and a true love for God.
How often do you stop and think about Christ’s love for you?
If you’re like me, it’s not often enough. When I do think about it, I’m overwhelmed. Jesus showed us love in all He did. He healed people who were very ill, no matter how tired He was. He showed love to the unlovable. Outcasts of society, such as lepers, were touched by His healing hands. Demon-possessed people were set free from the demon that caused them to harm themselves and others. Too often, people like to be forgiven but then feel free to continue sinning.
An adulterous woman was forgiven instead of being stoned, but Jesus told her to stop her sin. “…go, and sin no more” (John 8:11b).
You see, the love God has for us is perfect. He loves us in spite of our sin, but He doesn’t want our sin to control us. Sin separates us from God. Everybody has a sin or two that needs to be forgiven. When we come to Jesus with a repentant heart, He forgives. Repentance means to change your mind about the sin. Instead of seeing it as “just being human,” we see it as a stumbling block between us and abundant life in Christ. Oh, how Jesus loves us!
Jesus to Calvary did go,
His love for mankind to show.
What He did there brought hope from despair.
Oh, how He loves you
Oh, how He loves me,
Oh, how He loves you and me.
How do we show someone we love them?
One way is to talk with them and get to know all about them. Do you love Jesus? He speaks to us through Scripture, and we talk to Him through prayer. An important part of love is to listen. Jesus will always listen to you, but you need to listen to Him too. When you love someone, you set time aside to be with them, and put aside your personal comfort if your loved one has a need. In the case of humanity, we had a very big need. We were dead in sin.
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
We are sinners and doomed to eternal death. Because He loves us, Jesus laid down His life for us. He chose to shed His blood on Calvary to take our sin away. Only God could save us from eternal death, and that’s exactly what Jesus did.
“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6).
That is perfect love. Shedding sin-tainted human blood won’t bring salvation to anybody, only God’s pure blood, untainted by sin, can take our sin away. When we share the Gospel with others, we give someone else the chance to find salvation through Jesus. It might take a little effort on your part, but think of what it cost Jesus to bring you to salvation. He set aside His life in Heaven to enter His creation. He lived among us, then allowed Himself to be crucified.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
He forgave those who condemned Him and those who pounded the nails. Oh, how He loves you and me.
Oh, how He loves you and me,
Oh, how He loves you and me.
He gave His life, what more could He give;
Oh, how He loves you
Oh, how He loves me, Oh, how He loves you and me.
Do you love Him? I hope so. Does He love you? Absolutely. He gave His life; what more could He give? In gratitude, give your life to Him.
God bless you all
Nathele Graham
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“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee” (Psalm 122:6).
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