“We know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. …We love because he first loved us.”
1 John 4:16, 19
Pain can turn the sweetest patient into one who is surly and ill-tempered. They don’t mean to be difficult, but constant pain can be consuming. The person may be hurting from an emotional wound. A newly-diagnosed physical limitation may have shattered dreams of reaching a long-awaited goal. Or perhaps they’re facing looming death.
Whatever the cause, caring for one who is hurting might mean we are caring for an unlovable loved one. I watched it happen to Russ, whose typically gentle personality became short-tempered and impatient in the wake of his unrelenting pain. No matter how often I reminded myself of my love for him, I confess there were times when my caregiving felt like more of a burden than an act of love.
The Bible tells us that while we were unlovable enemies of God, Christ died for us (see Romans 5:8). His love is not dependent on how lovable I am. Rather, His love is a lavish gift of grace to the undeserving. How then could I not love the unlovable in my life at their weakest, most vulnerable moments?
Whatever the cause, caring for one who is hurting might mean we are caring for an unlovable loved one. I watched it happen to Russ, whose typically gentle personality became short-tempered and impatient in the wake of his unrelenting pain. No matter how often I reminded myself of my love for him, I confess there were times when my caregiving felt like more of a burden than an act of love.
The Bible tells us that while we were unlovable enemies of God, Christ died for us (see Romans 5:8). His love is not dependent on how lovable I am. Rather, His love is a lavish gift of grace to the undeserving. How then could I not love the unlovable in my life at their weakest, most vulnerable moments?
Scripture Focus
1 John 4:17-21
Insight
“Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (1 John 4:11)
Bible In A Year
- Ezekiel 15-16
- Psalm 138
- Philippians 1-2
