Esther 1-2
Acts 5:1-21
“As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Now remain in My love.” John 15:9
The word “love” is used in so many different ways in our culture that it has lost its meaning. There is this saying amongst young people: “I love you and I also like you.” What that line communicates is “I like you” in a sense that “I actually just like being with you.” In our culture, it seems that to like someone has more value than to love them.
In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for “love” is hesed, which means “loyal, steadfast, or faithful love based on a promise, agreement, or covenant.” Often, the English translator would use the words “everlasting love,” like God speaking in Jeremiah 31:3: “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” In the New Testament, the Greek word for “love” is agape, which communicates God’s love for humanity, a sacrificial love. Hence, when God the Father speaks love over Jesus and calls us His beloved, He is affirming that His love for us is covenantal and sacrificial.
At Jesus’s baptism, the Father said, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Then, at Jesus’s transfiguration, the Father said, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!” (Matthew 17:5). As we consider what God the Father publicly and audibly declared at Jesus’s baptism and transfiguration, we will find that He not only affirmed the identity of Jesus but also affirmed His love for Him.
As parents, how are we affirming our love to our children? Whether we realize it or not, the love we show our families does have an impact on our children understanding the love from their Heavenly Father. As a husband or a wife, the way we love our spouse is a tangible display to our children of Christ’s love to the Church. If we are not loving our spouse well and our children are watching this, they will have a hard time understanding Christ’s love for the Church. Similarly, if we are not loving our children well, then they will have a hard time understanding the love of the Father for them. We need to understand the significance of our role in the home and to lead our families in love. One of the greatest things we can do for the kingdom is to love our spouse and our children the way Christ does.
Although some of us may come from a broken family, God can heal every wound that we have ever experienced in our families and the Holy Spirit is powerful enough to bring deep revelation of His love into every heart. Do we know that we are loved?
Almighty Father, thank You for Your everlasting love. Help me to love my family, and others, as You have loved me. Amen!
Acts 5:1-21
“As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Now remain in My love.” John 15:9
The word “love” is used in so many different ways in our culture that it has lost its meaning. There is this saying amongst young people: “I love you and I also like you.” What that line communicates is “I like you” in a sense that “I actually just like being with you.” In our culture, it seems that to like someone has more value than to love them.
In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for “love” is hesed, which means “loyal, steadfast, or faithful love based on a promise, agreement, or covenant.” Often, the English translator would use the words “everlasting love,” like God speaking in Jeremiah 31:3: “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” In the New Testament, the Greek word for “love” is agape, which communicates God’s love for humanity, a sacrificial love. Hence, when God the Father speaks love over Jesus and calls us His beloved, He is affirming that His love for us is covenantal and sacrificial.
At Jesus’s baptism, the Father said, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Then, at Jesus’s transfiguration, the Father said, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!” (Matthew 17:5). As we consider what God the Father publicly and audibly declared at Jesus’s baptism and transfiguration, we will find that He not only affirmed the identity of Jesus but also affirmed His love for Him.
As parents, how are we affirming our love to our children? Whether we realize it or not, the love we show our families does have an impact on our children understanding the love from their Heavenly Father. As a husband or a wife, the way we love our spouse is a tangible display to our children of Christ’s love to the Church. If we are not loving our spouse well and our children are watching this, they will have a hard time understanding Christ’s love for the Church. Similarly, if we are not loving our children well, then they will have a hard time understanding the love of the Father for them. We need to understand the significance of our role in the home and to lead our families in love. One of the greatest things we can do for the kingdom is to love our spouse and our children the way Christ does.
Although some of us may come from a broken family, God can heal every wound that we have ever experienced in our families and the Holy Spirit is powerful enough to bring deep revelation of His love into every heart. Do we know that we are loved?
Almighty Father, thank You for Your everlasting love. Help me to love my family, and others, as You have loved me. Amen!
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