May 10

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves those born of Him. — 1 John 5:1 BSB

Where there is love for Jesus, there will be love for those who belong to Him—those redeemed, regenerated, and possessed by Him. The more we see and understand the beauty and blessedness of the Lord of life and glory, the more we will love His image as we see it in His people, and the more our hearts will cleave to them with tender affection.

It is our limited and imperfect knowledge of God the Father’s eternal love, and of the Lord Jesus Christ’s grace and glory, that leaves us cold and lifeless in our affections toward Him. When our love for Christ declines, so does our love for His people. But the more blessed revelations we have of the person, work, grace, and beauty of Jesus, the more we will fall in love with Him. He is the most glorious object that the eyes of faith can see. He fills heaven with the light of His majesty and has captivated the hearts of countless believers through the manifestations of His bleeding, dying love. If we do not love Him, it is because we do not know Him. For those who do know Him, He makes Himself precious. The depth of our love for Christ will always correspond to the depth of our personal, spiritual, and experiential knowledge of Him.