1 John 4:9-10
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
I still have my first teddy bear. My parents gave it to me for my first Christmas 54 years ago and it used to have soft brown fur, button eyes, and a little red nose. Now it is eye-less, nose-less and hairless – but I still have it.
I still have that teddy bear because after I grew out of my “teddy bear phase” – it was given to my little brother John, who was born when I was almost 12. John loved that teddy bear – in fact, he loved the eyes, nose and fur right off that teddy bear!
My brother John has been gone for a long time. He’s been in heaven for over 20 years now after a tragic accident took his earthly life. So now that tattered and battered teddy bear has immeasurable and irreplaceable value for me – not because of itself – but because of the one who loved it so!
It occurs to me that the same is true for each one of us. In some way, we are each a little like that teddy bear. We are tattered and battered – sometimes by our own decisions and sin – sometimes simply by the wear and tear of life itself. But we have enormous and irreplaceable value because of the One who so loved us!
John is telling us that because we are so loved – we can afford to share that love with others. Furthermore – when we love others we actually demonstrate God’s great love to them. Think just for a moment about how many “teddy bears” there are around you – in your office, in your classroom, in your neighborhood – even in your home? How many of them feel tattered and battered? How many of them feel unloved or unlovable?
As you dive headlong into the Christmas season – with all the lights, shopping and decorating – be sure to remember two things:
You are so loved!
And - you can help another teddy bear feel a little less battered and tattered!
Brian Coffey
Posts
1 comment:
Thanks, Pastor Brian...this is beautiful!
It occurs to me that people can be battered & tattered by life or sin, but - just like in your story - they can be worn thin by the work of our own Master, is that true?? Because God loves us, He will not let us remain the same, and He does what is necessary to get us going or keep us on the path toward what He meant for us to be - for our own good, and our Joy. He sometimes disciplines us. And "no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but is painful" (Hebrews 12:11) - it is difficult for the short term, until we learn our lesson and get the long term reward: a better walk with God, a more godly character, a healed relationship with a loved one, or whatever it is God is trying to work in our life. I once heard an analogy of God as the Potter and we as the clay - and truly, the Potter has to push hard on that clay sometimes, to push out the air pockets and the imperfections! If we (or HE) didn't care who we are, or how we are living, life would be simpler. Maybe I need to see my current struggling as hair-worn-thin by God's loving hands on my life...
Post a Comment