From The Desk Of Pastor Ben
“… Trust steadily in god, Hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.”     (1 Corinthians 13:13) MSG

I really can’t remember when I first realized that Jesus expects us to love as He does — unconditionally, extravagantly, audaciously. It was probably a thought floating around somewhere within the pool of information I’d been introduced to in Sunday School and then further developed through Bible studies and sermons in my teens and early adult years. In my journey to understand Jesus better, I stopped imagining Him as simply really, really skilled at loving people and instead realized His brand of love was in a class all by itself.
Part of that dawning on the subject of Jesus’ love happened several years ago. My wife & I were at home alone, and I looked at her and I said, maybe for the millionth time “I love you.” She looked at me and said, “Thank you.” Her response startled me because she had never said that before. So, I said, “You don’t have to thank me for loving you.” She was silent for a moment, and then said, “There are some who wouldn’t.” The words came out as a whisper laced with experience.
I didn’t have to love her. But loving comes easily because of the way I’ve been loved by Jesus — lavishly, in spite of my failures. Reading about Jesus’ limitless love — for those who came to Him with nothing but their brokenness, their pain, and their unsavory past — has convinced me that defaulting to love is heaven’s expectation and my best option.

Faith Step:     Someone in your circle of friends and family or even a stranger needs to know he or she is loved outrageously and extravagantly. Are you the carrier Jesus wants to use to deliver that message?