A Powerfully Potent Paragraph

The first paragraph of C.S. Lewis' excellent book, The Weight of Glory, is quite possibly one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful paragraph that I have ever read (apart from Scripture).

That said, I'm only going to post the first portion of that paragraph to highlight what I've been thinking about for a week or two now;

"If you asked twenty good men today what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you had asked almost any of the great Christians of old, he would have replied, Love. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philological importance. The negative idea of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point."

A few paraphrases from my recent meditations on this paragraph:

Love does not merely sacrifice self for the sake of an other, but love does so while sincerely pursuing the happiness of the other.

Love is not the delight one takes in an other, rather it is the delight one takes in delighting the other.

The happiness of an other is the end that love is the means to.

Fighting & Being Carried

Sometimes in the battle of life I feel like I'm fighting well. Other times I feel like I'm just being carried by my Father who is strong enough to get me through - kind of like this:

"Love one another"

John 15:12
"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."

I'm sad to be able to say that the love of many Christians is greatly lacking. Christians ought not ignore each other. They ought not to neglect being involved in each other's lives. Jesus loves us in many ways and He does not neglect us, nor ignore us. Rather His Word says things like, "He will never leave you or forsake you."

John 13:35
"By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

A few friends have allowed the light of their love to shine in my life recently. Simple acts of love such as phone calls, e-mails, or invitations to lunch shine like lights in the darkness of night. Maybe this is a part of what Jesus meant when He said we would be salt and light? It occurred to me that God has gone to, and continues to go to, extreme measures to show His love for us. When I consider the many ways in which I have experienced His love I'm overwhelmed because I simply do not deserve it, nor do I deserve Him. It seems this is what He meant when He said, "as I have loved you."


Out of Your way You gladly went
From glory to gloom You agreed to be sent
That Your heart might be seen by ears that now hear
That in beholding Your glory our knees might be bent,
That Your heart to us may be more revealed
You lived here and died here to pay whatever
ransom - that sinners be forgiven and healed
So we may now know You and enjoy You forever


Who is there in your life that you could go to extreme measures to show love to? Chances are maybe they too (like you and me) might not deserve it, but that didn't stop God from loving sinners like us...

"Love one another as I have loved you."

It is very likely that we've all heard the phrase, "Dynamite comes in small packages." This phrase is exemplified in the little word "as" which is sandwiched in the middle of a command given by Jesus twice in the Gospel of John (13:34 & 15:12). This little word "AS" is jam-packed with a depth and power very much yet unmined.

Considering the "AS" Jesus loved us - will give us the example and will enable us to do what He commands. If He commands it, then it can be done. He said "as I have loved you" this is not only an example, but such an example as that which enables. The beholding of Him changes us. The beholding and considering of the ways in which He loved/loves us (there are many more ways than we can imagine) is what empowers us to love with His love. There will be no loving as Jesus loves without considering and contemplating the manner(s) in which He imparts His love toward us.

Challenge:
Write down 20 ways in which Jesus loves you (the more the better, if you can do more than do!). Now you have something a little practical to look at to see if you are loving others in those ways. If you are not loving others in those ways then simply repent and ask for help - and thank God for one more example of how He loves you though you often blow it. Then ask God to show you His love for you more clearly so that you might be enabled more to love others as He does.

John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

John 15:12 "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.