offering your son
“Love, then, consists in this...that [God] has loved us and has sent His Son as an Offering for our sins.” —1 John 4:10
I have three sons, and many of you have sons as well. When I look at God’s love for us through His selfless offering of His own Son for our sins (1 Jn 4:10), I realize how far short I fall of the love that God the Father reveals. I can’t even conceive of a situation in which I would love a group of sinful and rebellious people enough to let one of my sons be born in a cave and placed in a manger, or be beaten and killed on their behalf.
“Yes, God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him may not die but may have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). “Love, then, consists in this: not that we have loved God but that He has loved us and has sent His Son as an Offering for our sins” (1 Jn 4:10). “God is Love” (1 Jn 4:8), and “love is of God” (1 Jn 4:7). God says to you: “With age-old love I have loved you” (Jer 31:3). He wants you to “grasp fully...the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ’s love, and experience this love which surpasses all knowledge” (Eph 3:18-19).
As the last week of the Christmas season concludes, look again at the Christ-Child, God’s only Son, Who is the incarnate Love of God poured out into the world and into our hearts (Rm 5:5). “Live in His love” (Jn 15:10).
Prayer: “O wonder of Your humble care for us! O love, O charity beyond all telling, to ransom a slave You gave away Your Son!” (from the Easter Vigil Exsultet)
Promise: “Everyone who loves is begotten of God and has knowledge of God.” —1 Jn 4:7
Praise: St. André has been instrumental in the healing of many through his powerful intercession to St. Joseph.
Reference: (This teaching was submitted by a member of our editorial team.)
(For a related teaching on Divine Love, listen to, download or order our AV 52-3 or DVD 52 on our website.)
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