John 15:9-11
Jesus said to his disciples:
“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
“I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Trust That You Are Loved
On the one hand, I am so delighted by this passage. I think about gazing at my youngest – who is now 9 – and having the overwhelming realization of how much my own parents have loved me for a lifetime. They are now 78 and 80, respectively, and I cherish every time I get a chance to tell them I love them.
And I think about how the disciples must have felt when Jesus tells him how much he loves them, his perfectly imperfect crew of friends and followers.
But I am also reminded of people who don’t necessarily have this sense or experience of being loved wholly. Who may struggle to love themselves. Who sometimes forget about their intrinsic value as a child of God. When we are asked to love our neighbor as ourselves, part of that effort is returning people back to the truth of God’s unconditional love for them and for each of us.
Trust that you are loved. And bask in the joy God feels and shares upon looking at you.
—Kristy C. Parrish works at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and is the former principal of Immaculate Conception School in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Prayer
Be silent.
Be still.
Alone.
Empty
Before your God.
Say nothing.
Ask nothing.
Be still.
Let your God look upon you.
That is all.
God knows.
God understands.
God loves you
With an enormous love,
And only wants
To look upon you
With that love.
Quiet.
Still.
Be.
Let your God –
Love you.
—“Let Your God Love You” by Edwina Gately