Love will show its fruits. If we truly love Jesus Christ, it will show in the way we live our lives. It is our form of worship; a response to His love for us. He loved us first. Jesus Christ did not do great and mighty things first – no – He was loved by His Father first, and was called, “My Son in whom I am very well pleased.”
Jesus Christ did not have to prove Himself to be loved by His Abba. He was loved first, and as a response to that, Jesus Christ remained in Abba and Abba’s love. He remained to do His Abba’s very will. He remained even to the point of denial. He remained even to the point of betrayal. He remained even to the point of death.
I have had so many situations, instances and trials where my faith was tested, and all the more so with the closest and most valued people in my life. Time and time again I would encounter so many questions about my intentions, motives, actions, words… and a lot of them would really shake me and my relationship with Christ. But throughout all these years, I looked in the mirror at one point, and I asked myself, “Charles, do you love the Lord Jesus Christ with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all mind, and with all of your strength?”
10 years later, and what continually grounds me to my core, is that, “Yes. I love my Lord Jesus Christ… with everything that composes me.” And this is what keeps me going. Not by my might, nor my power, but by His Spirit who lives in me. I just really love the Lord, and I want to remain in Him. In all circumstances.
The same hands that were stretched out for me during my lowest moments, having to experience both parents dying right before my eyes, having to run through constant battles in the mind of what I will do with my life, having to embrace my flaws and inequities as I run the race together with soft and tough runners for Christ. It is the same hands whom I will keep holding on to as I go through more and more years in His glorious presence, as He Himself wills it. May we be ones who will continue to remain in Him and His love, in all circumstance, all by God’s grace alone.
