Remain in His Love

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“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.

Now remain in my love.”

John 15:9 (NIV)

               The scene is in an upper room. Jesus and his disciples recline at their last meal together. Jesus tells his disciples as He prepares them for the future.

               The Master tells them how much He loved those who followed Him. He states it well. “As the Father has loved me,” As we study the Gospels we sense how great God’s love was for Jesus.

               Now, Jesus tells his disciples that He loves them as His Father has loved Him. What does Our Lord mean by this?

            Jesus loves patiently. Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthian believers (I Cor. 13:4), reminds us that love is patient. Our Lord loves us and waits for us to realize our need for Him. I had a Sunday school teacher who said it this way, “Jesus is always a gentleman.”

            He loves unconditionally. As children, our earthly parents had to discipline us when we did something that could have hurt us or someone else, if we disobeyed them, or broke a house rule. But, they still loved us! God, who loved us when we were still unformed, loves us no matter how serious our disobedience.

            As children of God, we sometimes wonder if an action we do might cause God to be angry with us. On Tuesday mornings, I meet with a group of friends from church for a season of prayer. But, I can’t always be as faithful as I would like about my attendance. Weather conditions or my general health enter into the decision I sometime have to make to stay home; when I do I try to spend that time in prayer.

            We cannot put limits on how much Jesus loves us. We know He does. We see the evidence in the ways He protects us, provides for us, and brings us through difficulties. We should always remember that He loves us more than we can ever realize.