February 16

The Love Of Christ For Us!

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. — Phil 2:5-7 BSB

The Lord Jesus stripped Himself of everything except love, so that He could meet every human soul on its own level. Though He was in the form of God and equal with God, He emptied Himself, humbled Himself, and became obedient to death—even death on the Cross—for our sake. He stripped Himself of all things so that He could give us righteous clothing in place of the fading fig leaves of excuses. He descended so low that His arms could reach beneath the most hopeless and helpless. His mission was to reach the lowest so that no one could say they were beyond His salvation. "He is able to save to the uttermost all who come to God through Him."

Surely it is inexcusable for any soul to escape God’s love when Jesus has made such a great effort to show us not only its height, breadth, and length but its depth. Why are we so cold, unmoved, and indifferent? The Apostle speaks of being constrained by the love of Christ, of the love of God filling and flooding our hearts. How is it that, with God’s love so close and accessible, we remain so apathetic?

The cure, in part, is recognizing that God’s love is all around us, a realization we cultivate through meditation. "Your omnipotence," says St. Augustine, "is not far from us even when we are far from You." We can say the same about God’s love. Even when we feel distant and cold, God’s love surrounds us, tenderly overshadowing us. Don’t try to stir up love by thinking of the Cross as a distant event in the past, but by reflecting on Christ’s love as present and real, just as tender as when He said to His mother, "Behold your son," and to John, "Behold your mother."

Jesus knows the needs of our hearts and is close at hand, ready to lead us into the realization of His love through the Holy Spirit. Let us open ourselves to the Blessed Comforter, and He will respond. "The fruit of the Spirit is love."

Prayer

May the Holy Spirit fill my heart with the consciousness of Christ’s love so fully that nothing remains in my life that is inconsistent with His love. Amen.