This is probably the first verse that Christians
memorize…and one that is taught to little children. God loved the world—all of
mankind. It is this LOVE that we want to emulate in our lives—loving others.
But the ultimate real love was shown by God’s son, Jesus, when He gave His life
on the cross. Note that His life wasn’t taken from Him, He gave it up freely.
God gives us a gift…sort of like Christmas. Imagine a
nicely wrapped package with a beautiful bow. You open it and there is a note
from God Himself offering you the gift of eternal life, salvation. All you have
to do is “accept” the gift, acknowledging that you are a sinner (we all are),
so that Jesus can take your sins to His cross, and then you are entitled to
become adopted into God’s family and share in the plan of eternal life, just
like promised in John 3:16. What a great gift and a wonderful plan. God planned
that from the beginning of creation. He gave people free will—so they can
decide for themselves if they want to spend eternity in Heaven with Him…or not.
Those who choose “not” will be going to hell, a place of gnashing teeth in a
lake of fire, eternally separated from God and His Love.
Training
Tip – God Love Us. Explain to your children that we have choices to
make every day, actually every minute of every day. Tell the kiddos that I am
praying for them to make good choices. One day they will have to decide for
themselves where they will spend eternity. I hope that they choose to spend it
with Jesus. I’ll be there.
Lord – Thank you for
giving up Your life for our sins—and for the brilliant plan that Our Heavenly
Father has—the plan of salvation—eternal life for everyone who believes in You.
So how
are you doing? As we look at the characteristics of Jesus—qualities
that we are called to have in our own lives and put into our relationships we
can ask ourselves several questions just to see how we are doing.
1.
Is my attitude the same as Christ Jesus?
(Philippians 2:5)
2.
Do I have this
quality in me…and if so, how much…do I need to work on it more?
3.
How do I show this
character in my daily life?
4.
What is keeping me
from attaining more of this character trait in my own life?
5.
Considering the
scriptures, what can I do to put this attitude or characteristic into action,
to improve it in my life?
6.
Am I teaching this
character trait to my children, intentionally and by my example?
Love does not stand alone. It needs interaction with other
good character traits and an obedient attitude. So let’s look at some other
character traits of Jesus in the coming days and weeks, with the assurance that
Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, is lighting and guiding our path.
All scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible (NASB)
unless otherwise noted.
© 2013
by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
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