His little chocolate covered hands embraced my face. He looked into my eyes, and with his precious, innocent 4 year old voice said, “Nanna… I will never stop loving you.” No smudgy chocolate in the world could make me move away from that sweet embrace. The pure love I saw in my grandson’s eyes melted me to the core. I held him in my arms until he giggled and wiggled free to return to his four-year-old business of causing mayhem. Little did he know what a powerful impact his unbridled love had on me.
I thought of that many times since. “I’ll never stop loving you.” I hadn’t done anything special to receive those words. In fact, he had been playing in the other room. He simply stopped what he was doing for the moment, came over to me and lavished those beautiful rays of sunshine on my soul. Like a spritz of perfume, the scent of his words lingered and freshened and sweetened the day. Who would think a four year old’s unconditional love would be such a powerful force? I wanted to do whatever I could to show him how much he meant to me. I’d give him the world if it was mine to give.
And isn’t that what we all want to know? That no matter what, we’ll be loved? I’ve been thinking a lot of about the power of that kind of love… the kind that never stops, no matter what. My grandson’s simple declaration has made me look at the world around me. So. Much. Anger. So. Much. Hatred. It seems like all I see are “unlovable” people. But then I think of his little four-year-old voice: “I will never stop loving you,” and I’m reminded of another’s declaration of that same kind of love. You see, Jesus loved the very unlovable me. “While we were STILL sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) And then he kept on loving me, right into his embrace. “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.” (Jeremiah 31:3) He will never stop loving me. The thought of that empowers me. It changes me as nothing else can. I want to do whatever I can to show Him how much He means to me. I want to know Him better and follow Him every step of every day. That eternal love is why I follow his words, his way. And that means loving those He loves. Yep, that means even those I deem “unlovable”. Those that heap anger and hatred and chaos. And yes, even those that don’t love me back, or worse, hate me in response. That’s how much His love compels me. Jesus said He will never stop loving me, and He asks me to do the same for others. He loved me when I couldn’t even love myself. He reached down into my mire and muck, not to shame me, but to lift me. He saw me as His own, and He lifted me out of the darkness of despair and gave me His purpose and light. That’s love. And then He said, “Go and love others as I have loved you.” And what better way to love others than to introduce them to the author of love, Jesus Christ. It is when one meets Jesus that the anger subsides. That’s when the hatred ceases. That’s when the hurt heals.
Oh Father God, help me to see with your eyes of love. Help me to see the angst beneath the anger, the lost beneath the lies, the hurt beneath the hatred. Help me to never stop bringing people to you, and to never stop loving.
We all need to know that kind of love. It is powerful. It brings change. And it’s our only hope.
Comments