love

I've been thinking a lot about love recently - being "in love," loving, Christian love, romantic love. Recently I feel like I've been learning a lot about it. I came across this from Piper today in a sermon on loving others:

"The sum of the matter is this: Because God has rescued us from his own wrath at the cost of his Son, and has gathered us together into Christ where we are eternally safe with him, we stand trembling with joy and look into each other’s eyes, and say: Can you believe it? We are here! We are here! In Christ! We’re not at the bottom of the mine shaft! We are not falling in the flames of the bottomless pit. And that’s what we deserve. And we are here! Chosen. Loved. Forgiven. Forever. Together."

This, to me, is what Christian love is: reminding each other of the Gospel, no matter what. Christian love is about propelling each other to Christ. What we often miss, to our shame, is that the deepest and most beautiful experiences of Christian love must occur when one (or both) person feels like the mine shaft is real, and the flames of the bottomless pit feel as hot as the sun. This is bearing each other's burdens. "We love because God first loved us" - and how did God first love us? It was not when we were feeling content. It wasn't even when we were truly ourselves. God loved us before we were made new in Christ, before we were even capable of loving Him. Not only that, but He loved us when we were actively hostile towards Him - and He still does.

One of my favorite hymns is "May the Mind of Christ, My Savior." I particularly love the last verse:

"May the love of Jesus fill me,
As the waters fill the sea;
Him exalting, self abasing
This is victory."

Peace (or maybe "Love" is more appropriate),
Sam