by Dr. Amanda McElroy
There are several children’s songs that speak of Jesus’ love for us, we teach them to young children, hoping the words will become part of the fabric of their being. We know it’s important for the children to learn that Jesus loves them. How often do we adults take a moment to contemplate the magnitude of that love?
People fall in love. People fall out of love. God doesn’t. For us humans, love is fickle. Love is a choice that can be undone in a moment of hurt, in a fit of emotion. People we once loved deeply in years past, are strangers to us today. The concept of love in our society has lost some of its depth. It’s common to hear complete strangers say, “I love you so much.” As a society we’ve used the term with hollow context for so long, it’s lost the meaning it should hold for us when being said and when being received.
The love of God spoken of in the Bible has not lost its meaning. Jesus loves me, and Jesus loves you just as much today as when He proved His love by dying on the cross so we could have a means to be with Him in heaven one day. We know Jesus loves the children, but do we really let our hearts feel the wonder that He loves us too?
From time to time in life, we meet people with whom our hearts seem to instantly knit. Anne of Green Gables would say those people are our bosom friends. Our hearts swell with love for them, we are willing to do extraordinary things for them at our own peril because we love them. For some, this love is greater than the love of their own life. We think of parents who sacrifice for their children and of patriots who give their lives for their country and countrymen. Before we were even a twinkle in our parent’s eyes, God already loved us so much that He didn’t just lay His own life down for us, but he sacrificed His only Son. Romans 5:8 says: “But God commendeth his love for us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
In the bustle of our daily lives, it is easy to let the reality that Jesus Love Me be nothing more than a children’s song, for them to learn and us to ignore. But there is something special about taking a moment to revel in the reality that God loves us with a depth we are not capable of wrapping our minds around, and that His love will not wane or be taken away. Paul talks about the steadfastness of God’s love in Romans:
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? … 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 creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35 & 38-39
God’s love for us will not be rescinded in a moment of hurt feelings. He does not take back His choice to love us when we sin against Him, or ignore Him by not reading His Word, praying, or attending church. He never gives up on us, no matter how far away we stray. God’s love is constant, immeasurable, and without end.
“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love;” I John 4:16a
Jesus Love Even Me
“I am so glad that my Father in Heaven
Tells of His love in a Book He has given
Wonderful things in the Bible I see
This is the dearest that Jesus love me
I am so glad that Jesus loves me
Jesus loves me
Jesus love me
I am so glad that Jesus loves me
Jesus loves even me
Jesus Loves Me
“Jesus loves me this I know
For the Bible tells me so
Little ones to Him belong
They are weak but He is strong
Yes, Jesus loves me
Yes, Jesus loves me
Yes, Jesus loves me
The Bible tells me so”
