My Very Center

Life-giver.
World-changer.
Hope-bearer.
Healer.
Love.

These are only some of the words that apply to Him who is my very center, Jesus. I think of a life without Him and am washed over by despair and pain; my heart breaks for those who have yet to know him or who once knew him but have turned away. I think of the darkest and most difficult days of my life and the choices I had to make in those moments; choices to cling to Jesus in hope and hold out for better days to come.

Life comes with its share of triumphs and trials, people who seek to love and provide hope and people who seek to tear down and destroy, and both hurt and healing. I am so glad that Jesus is a life-giver, literally. He gave His life so that all would have the opportunity to encounter and engage with God despite our wickedness or sinful ways. He gave His life so that the world could be changed, so that all would have the opportunity to know God fully and know that they are known by Him.  He gave His life to bring hope to a world filled with despair.

"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends" (John 15:13).

 

There are so many significant realizations that can be drawn from that one verse.

 

(1) There is no greater display of love than that which Jesus did by giving away His life in exchange of our own.

 

(2) We are called His friends - the magnitude of that statement has the potential to overwhelm.

(3) Having true love for the people in our lives requires selflessness and sacrifice.


There is this idea floating around Christian circles that salvation is a "free gift." However, nothing could be more incorrect; there is nothing free about the gift we have been given in salvation. Salvation required rejection, demoralization, torture, and ultimately death. A death that was given by Jesus Christ. Now, the story of salvation doesn't end in death because Jesus beats death, was resurrected on the third day, and is ALIVE.  The gift of salvation had a cost and it was a cost that was willing to be paid by Jesus because of the depth, width, breadth, and height of the perfect and unconditional love He has for each of us. A love that would require Jesus to sacrifice his life.

What would it look like if we responded to the lives around us with such a love. A love that knows no borders or boundaries. A love that requires no payment or purchase. A love that requires to likes or favorites on social media posts. A love that is founded in the selflessness of caring about someone more than we care for ourselves. A love that is centered in Jesus Christ. A love that fights for the heart of the people we love even if they are no longer fighting for our hearts. A love that brings us to our knees until our knees are tattered, torn, and shredded from the weight of the prayers that have been laid down. A love that can transform the world one heart at a time.

Oh, to love like that...