Unconditional love has a shape. It is not amorphous. Love without shape isn’t freedom, it’s selfish and chaotic.
The Shape
Not Orphans
“I will not leave you orphaned,” is Jesus’ promise to us. How well he knows us. His words go to the depths of us. Down underneath the
Truth
Because truth is difficult to handle, Jesus follows up by saying, that we can depend on the “Spirit of truth to be our guide.” A great indicator that we are growing as followers of Jesus is the amount of truth that we can hear and handle.
Speech
When you read about Jesus’ miracles it’s easy to get dazzled! But, read the accounts slowly and you’ll learn there’s a formula for most of Jesus’ miracles, a formula we can adopt.
Creative
The Christian hope is deeply, concisely and profoundly exemplified in the movement from Jesus’ death to his resurrection. There, we see that God uses turmoil for God’s creative purposes.
Suspense
Suspense is part of faith in God. The suspense for us isn’t “if” there’s God but “how” will God choose to be God.
More
When the risen Lord returned to his friends, he didn’t focus on his wounds. He showed them his wounds but they didn’t define him.
Solidarity
As superior as God is to us, for love’s sake God took on our flesh to know life as we do. That boggles the mind and is praiseworthy. But, God goes further in Jesus.
Loss
To grow up in Christ is to be able to face loss. We learn this at a dinner party. Jesus is there. Lazarus is there. He was dead, now he’s alive and eating dinner.
Death
What must I do to die a good death? You see, the great irony is that those of us who struggle with the fear of death also really struggle with the fear of living life abundantly.