For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. 18 He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God.

Meditation: True love doesn't count the cost; it gives liberally. A true lover gives the best he has to offer and everthing he has for the beloved. God proved his love for us by giving us the best he had to offer -- his only begotten Son who freely gave himself as an offering to God for our sake and as the atoning sacrifice for our sin and the sin of the world. Abraham's willing sacrifice of his only son, Isaac prefigures the perfect offering and sacrifice of God's beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. This passage in the gospel of John tells us of the great breadth and width of God's love. Not an excluding love for just a few or for a single nation, but a redemptive love that embraces the whole world, and a personal love for each and every individual whom God has created. God is a loving Father who cannot rest until his wandering children have returned home to him. Saint Augustine says, God loves each one of us as if there were only one of us to love. God gives us the freedom to choose whom and what we will love. Jesus shows us the paradox of love and judgment. We can love the darkness of sin and unbelief or we can love the light of God's truth, beauty, and goodness. If our love is guided by what is true, and good and beautiful then we will choose for God and love him above all else. What we love shows what we prefer. Do love God above all else? Does he take first place in your life, in your thoughts, and actions?

"Lord Jesus Christ, your love is better than life itself. May your love consume and tranform my life that I may desire you above all else. Help me to love what you love, to desire what you desire, and to reject what you reject".



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(c) 2001 Don Schwager

BOO!

For God so loved the world that he created gay people to make it more beautiful and to keep the population down while allowing them the beauty of sexual expression, but there were those who chose a beautiful teacher named Jesus with beautiful words for us all and distorted those words to glorify themselves and debase others not like them. They called him the "Son of God" so that no one could object without fear of condemnation.