1 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
—The words of the Apostle Paul Ephesians 5:1-2
16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.
—The words of the Apostle John 1 John 3:16a
In early September of 1957, I was ten years old and recovering from a very serious bicycle accident. The front axle of my bike had broken as I rode down a steep hill on a dirt and gravel road. I had pitched forward over the handlebars and slid 110 feet down the hill. The only part of my body touching the road was my face. Following a 16-hour operation, a plastic surgeon had successfully rebuilt my face from a photograph.
One neighborhood girl, a year older than I, had taken a particular interest in my recovery. This was the first time in my life that any female, other than my mother, had shown an interest in me. Frankly, it was intoxicating.
Each day after school, JoAnn would stop by the front porch of my house where I was resting. She insisted that I lay down on the porch swing and put my head on her lap. I remember how soothing it felt when she would stroke my hair.
One day, JoAnn looked down into my eyes and said, “Do you love me?”
Her question caught me completely off guard. “I guess so,” I replied rather tentatively.
“Prove it!” she demanded.
“How?” I asked with great puzzlement filling my voice.
“If you really love me, you’ll know how to prove it!”
“I don’t understand,” I replied with consternation.
“If you really love me, you’ll know how to prove it!” she insisted.
By the end of that afternoon, my three-day love affair with JoAnn was over. I simply couldn’t figure out how to prove that I loved her. So, she stomped off my front porch and proceeded to become one of my worst enemies. In fact, from that day forward until she graduated from high school, six-and-a-half years later, she seemed to burn with an enormously hot hatred for me and took every opportunity to say bad things about me to other people.
In the breadth of three days, I experienced—for the first time—the joy of attention from a female, the confusion of trying to figure out what she wanted from me, and the intense pain of rejection. Almost too much learning in too short a time!
As a footnote, I should say that once she graduated from high school, I have never seen her, nor heard anything about her, during the intervening 47 years. By the way, I did eventually figure out that she wanted me to kiss her, But, alas, too little revelation, too late.
How does one prove “love?”
In the two Scripture passages at the beginning of this blog post, the Apostle Paul and the Apostle John make clear declarations of the irrefutable evidence of God’s love for us. God has shown His love for us by sending His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die in our behalf, paying the penalty for our sins. Moreso, through the power of His resurrection, we have a guaranteed home in heaven for all eternity.
So, when someone asks me how I know God loves me, I can affirm that He has most certainly responded to the challenge, “Prove it!”
Will you pray with me?
Thank You, God for loving us. Thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, to be our Savior. Thank You for giving us the Holy Spirit to continually speak Your gentle words of inner assurance confirming that You love us and that we belong to You. Help us to show Your love to everyone who crosses the pathway of our lives. We pray, with joy and gratitude, in the Precious Name of Jesus. Amen.
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