John 15:13: Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends
It is the season of sickness. With the cool, cold and sometimes wet weather, it is not unusual at this time of year for our calendars to be punctuated with time off work or school due to catching a cold, the flu or other respiratory ailment.
However, if you happen to be a parent with a child in school you may know how exponentially worse this season can be, with all the bugs your little one may bring home from school or daycare.
This cold and flu season has been especially bad for our 3 year old. She and I have traded off runny-noses, stomach viruses, and colds while trying to be extra careful with washing hands and all other recommended preventative measures. Nonetheless, this season has been more challenging for her than the ones before. As a parent, when you see your precious child THAT sick, all you want to do is take the pain and discomfort away.
I am becoming more aware of God’s concern for humanity as I experience the inability to take away our daughter’s ill health. There is something else that is remembered during this second month of the year – love. We are celebrating despite sickness, and stress. While the month focuses on romantic love, I can’t help but be reminded through the text a definition of love that is sacrificial.
My love for my daughter is one I’ve never experienced. I would do nearly anything to bring her comfort and respite from discomfort. How much greater is the love our heavenly Father has for us? Even in the midst of our seemingly continual poor choices that keep us in the state of sickness of sin, Jesus chose to lay His life down on our behalf. To take the pain and discomfort away, and someday make us new and in perfect union with Him. I have understood a taste of this love, and yet may never fully fathom what love Jesus has for us, His children He prioritized over suffering and death. What a promise, and what a reminder of what true love is!