“I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” – Jesus speaking in John 17:26.
I love that the last prayer that Jesus had before He was arrested was for us. He knew what was about to happen. That He was about to die and that after He rose from the dead He would return to heaven. He had a lot on his heart and mind. But that heart and mind were in earnest prayer for us. That He and His love would live on in us.
If we say we love Jesus, then we get the amazing privilege and responsibility of carrying within us His love, His heart, Jesus Himself. His life in ours can’t help but affect the way we live our lives. In all we do, but particularly in our relationships, both casual and intimate and everything in between. How we treat and respond to people. How we look out for their best interests. How we understand and put ourselves in other people’s shoes. How we look for opportunities to touch other people’s lives. How we reach out to those in need, the forgotten. Because that’s exactly what Jesus did. And when He left this earth, He prayed that we would carry on in that same pattern of love.
Today, I will choose to look at each encounter as an opportunity. An opportunity to live out and pass on what I’ve been given, what Jesus says lives in me. When difficult people cross my path or frustrating interactions take place, I want to look at them as divine opportunities to love with Jesus’ love. I want those people to be able to look past my face and somehow see Him.
John 15: 9 & 12 – “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love…Love each other as I have loved you. “
