The Greatest
Gift of Love

Pastor Kennedy began with three words that can become so familiar that we hurry past their wonder: God loves us. John slows us down. Real love did not begin with our search for God, our promises to do better, or our ability to make ourselves worthy. It began in the heart of God.

This changes the way we enter the week. We do not begin as spiritual performers trying to attract God's attention. We begin as people He has already seen and moved toward in Christ. He loved us while we were turned away. He gave before we asked. He acted before we understood what we needed.

Last week we practiced coming to Jesus with a child's open hands. That is exactly how a gift is received. Open hands do not pretend they purchased what is being given. They simply trust the giver. The gospel is not a reward for those who loved God well enough. It is the announcement that God loved us first.

Some mornings our love feels strong. Other mornings it feels thin and tired. God's love does not rise and fall with ours. Today, let His first move become your resting place.

Love can be spoken, but love is measured by what it is willing to give. Pastor Kennedy reminded us of the small gift Mike received from his grandchild: a simple blank piece of paper offered after a week of babysitting. To anyone else it might have looked like nothing. To Mike it was precious because it carried the child's love and because it was what the child had to give.

God's gift was not small. He did not give something unimportant or easily replaced. He gave His one and only Son. Jesus is not an object passed from one hand to another. He is the beloved Son who willingly came, and the Father willingly sent Him. The gift reveals the depth of the love.

John 3:16 is not a slogan to rush past. Every phrase opens another room of wonder: God loved. God loved the world. God gave. He gave His Son. He gave so that people facing death could receive life.

Yesterday we received love with open hands. Today, stay with the cost. You do not have to manufacture an emotional response. Simply refuse to treat the gift as ordinary. Let gratitude grow slowly in the presence of Jesus.

The value of a gift becomes clearer when we understand the need of the person receiving it. Bread may seem ordinary after a full meal, but it becomes precious to someone who has not eaten. Water may be easy to overlook beside a kitchen sink, but it becomes life to someone dying of thirst.

Pastor Kennedy brought us to an even deeper need. Scripture does not say we were merely discouraged people who needed a better attitude. Paul says we were dead in our sins. Dead people do not need a little improvement. They need life.

Then come two of the most beautiful words in Scripture: But God. God is rich in mercy. God loved us so much. God united us with Christ and made us alive. Salvation is resurrection before it becomes renovation. We do not clean ourselves up and then ask Jesus to complete the work. Jesus gives life, and then His life begins to remake us.

This protects us from both pride and despair. Pride cannot say, “I rescued myself.” Despair cannot say, “I am beyond His reach.” Grace tells the truth about our need and an even greater truth about our Savior.

Pastor Kennedy used the picture of a small piece of gold beside a massive rock. The rock may be much larger and heavier, yet the gold may be worth far more. Size does not determine intrinsic value.

Then he asked us to consider who Jesus is. Jesus is not merely a wise teacher, a courageous prophet, or a good man who gave us an inspiring example. He is the visible image of the invisible God. Everything was created through Him and for Him. He existed before all things, holds creation together, and stands supreme over the Church.

This is the One who came near. The hands that formed creation accepted nails. The One who sustains every breath gave His breath for us. The source of life entered death and rose as the beginning of a new creation. We could not purchase this gift, imagine a greater gift, or make ourselves worthy of it. God gave us Jesus.

Familiarity can make even treasure seem ordinary. Today, let Scripture restore proportion. Our problems are real, but they are not larger than Christ. Our failures are serious, but they are not stronger than His cross. Our future may be uncertain, but it is not outside the hands that hold all creation together.

God's love comes to us, but it is not meant to stop with us. John joins two truths we often separate: no one has seen God, and when we love one another, God lives in us and His love is brought to full expression. The invisible God makes His love visible through ordinary people.

That love may look like patience with a story we have heard before. It may be forgiveness that refuses to give hurt the final word. It may be a call to someone lonely, a meal for someone ill, prayer beside a hospital bed, a ride to church, or quiet presence with someone grieving. These actions do not earn God's love. They carry the love we have already received.

This week, Carolyn and I saw God's love reach someone while we served among people experiencing homelessness. We shared Jesus, but only God could open a heart and give new life. When that person trusted Christ, our response was not, “Look what we did.” It was, “Look what God has done.”

Last week Pastor Sammy gave us a towel and three names. This week Pastor Kennedy gives us the reason we can pick up that towel: we love because God loved us first. Ask the Holy Spirit for one name and one faithful way to let received love become visible.