True Love

John 16:1-15

 What is love? Take a minute and think about how you would define love.

Is it the warm feeling you get when someone special is next to you? Does it come and go, causing pain? Or is it the wonder a parent feels looking at their newborn child?

Poets, song writers, authors and lovers have used thousands of words to try and define love, and yet they come up short in comparison to the true love that Christ exhibited. For Christ love was an action, not a fleeting feeling, better described in 1 Corinthians 13, "...Love suffers long and is kind, love does not envy...does not behave rudely...thinks no evil...rejoices in truth...".

This scripture is overflowing with concern and love. Out of love, Christ shares the persecution to come with His disciples. He doesn't want them to be caught off guard, He wants to be the One to tell them and prepare them. When my daughter was in elementary school a group of girls decided to fill her in on "the facts of life". She came home and asked me why I hadn't shared these important "facts". It saddened me that I hadn't prepared her with truth before others misinformed her. Jesus shared the facts with His disciples, and by telling them the truth they were prepared for lies that would've grieved them; "You say Jesus loved you, well why did He leave you here alone to face beatings and death?" How much worse it would've been to struggle with doubt in the middle of their trials!

In love Christ tells them that He will send the Helper to them. He is referring to the Holy Spirit that would abide in them. The Spirit would guide them into truth, glorify Christ in the same way Christ had glorified God, and take of what was Christ's and declare it to them. The Holy Spirit couldn't come, though, until Jesus had died, been resurrected to life and returned to Heaven. So, Jesus tells His disciples that it is to their advantage that He leaves. Jesus, confined by His human body, walked and taught each day in the same geographical locations. The Holy Spirit didn't face those restrictions and would be present with all who believed in Christ, all the time.

Christ loved His disciples so much, that He was able to say, "I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away...".  True love is selfless.

Paul, in his letter to the Romans, attempted to give us an idea of the love Christ has for us, "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)

However life experience has caused you to define love, please think about this - All "love" pales in comparison to the true love Jesus Christ has for you!