Jesus Christ loves you. Because He loves you, He has saved you, though you may feel forsaken or not worth saving. Or perhaps you have no evidence that supports my claim, only a pile of proof to the contrary. A pile of festering, stagnant, poisonous proof. I, too, have sat with the heaviness of those untrue-but-feels-true assessments of the Lord’s love. Right now, my assertions of Jesus Christ’s love may even sound like a cruel joke or a platitude intended to quiet rather than soothe the wounds of your aching soul.
If you can, set aside the throbbing of your heart and the burning of your rage (I know the heat of that rage) for a moment and let me explain.
Jesus Christ Loves You as a Child of God
You are of divine origin. Your lineage traces back to Heavenly Parents who adore you. As the spirit daughter or son of the Almighty God, He wants you to return home. So, God asked, “Who shall I send?” (i.e Who shall I send to atone for the sufferings and sins of my children so they can come home to me? Who can be the One where justice and mercy meet?)
Jesus replied, “Here am I, send me.” (i.e. Heaven is not heaven without the people I love – my brothers and sisters. I will do for them what they cannot do for themselves though the pains and chains of hell will screech in my ears and claw at my eyes. I will be despised, betrayed, tortured, abandoned, accused, forsaken, crucified, and I will submit joyfully. Fulfilling the request of my Father becomes my privilege if it means the people I love can come home.)
Jesus Christ loves you and He proved it when He bled from every pore and allowed His life to be taken in one of the most cruel and shameful ways possible. Do you know He could have stopped everything with a word? But, for you, He did not. Jesus loves you.
In addition to suffering and dying in your behalf, He invested His blood so that you can overcome, conquer, and thrive. Thus, you have unlimited potential flowing through your veins; it’s part of your DNA. Now, you may be listing how that’s impossible due to the body type you wish you didn’t have, the face you wish looked like someone else’s, your academic or social struggles, or an unalterable illness, disability, or history.
Unlimited Potential
If I have missed anything on your list, write it down, and throw it away. You can even send it to me and I will throw it away for you. Because, if you and I are to understand our potential, we must let go of our love-limiting belief that potential equates accomplishment in the readily recognized sense – degrees, socioeconomic status, athletic prowess, influence, etc. Few people in the history of the world have had such abundant opportunity to pursue or attain any of these achievements to which so much self-worth is falsely assigned. Please understand that accomplishments are laudable, but they are not the currency of heaven.
And what is the unlimited potential of which I speak if not the potential to do something?
I speak of the potential to become like Jesus Christ – the holy, merciful, compassionate, miracle-working Son of God. The same One who lovingly and joyfully volunteered to do for you what you cannot do for yourself.
Yes, in every circumstance and situation we have a choice – we can choose the path of Christ, or not. In my experience, white-knuckling my willpower to act like the Christian I claim to be does not propel me forward. Rather, positive spiritual momentum comes from a growing desire to show Jesus Christ that I am His undaunted, courageous, and devoted disciple, just as the women in the scriptures, the women who loved Jesus.
The Women Who Love Jesus
When I read about the midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, who loved God more than they feared Pharaoh, I want to be a woman undaunted.
Every Christmas, when I read the story of Jesus Christ’s birth and the awe-inspiring fortitude of His young mother who accepted God’s will with the words, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word”, I want to be a woman courageous.
And when I remember the certain women – faithful, convinced, dependable – who watched over the dying Christ until He took His last breath, I want to be a woman devoted.
Trusting Him
My wants become reality when I trust Jesus Christ, that He is who He claims to be. The same is true for you. You and I need not fret about all that we cannot do or do not have, because He is the difference.
He makes the impossible, possible. He will build bridges we cannot build, heal what no physician can heal, restore what seems irrevocably lost, and turn our widow’s mite into a heavenly fortune – a Home with Him, at the right hand of our Father.
Who Jesus Christ loves, He saves.
That’s you.
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