I like the tangible. I have a need for the tangible. I learn through seeing and touching. I understand through experience. You cannot just tell me a cataloptical is. You need to show me what it is. I need to be able to hold it, even if it is just a picture. (And, no, I haven't a clue as to what a cataloptical is.)
And there was one thing growing up that I never understood. I never had a chance to grasp it. I wasn't able to see it or touch it. It was a foreign object to me. It was love. But not just any love, unconditional love. Agape love. The kind of love God has for us. Made no sense to me. Didn't seem possible. Teaching me about God's love was like teaching a 4th grader how to multiply polynomials. Didn't make sense.
I was always taught that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) But I never understood that. Why would He do that? His only Son? Really? Doesn't make sense. I had such a skewed view of love growing up, one with a completely different definition. This didn't match my definition. I know He did it, but I did not comprehend this love.
That was until I heard the heart beat. Little Bit's heart beat. This was the day I fell madly, deeply in love with her. And I hadn't even met her yet. I would do anything to protect her to make sure she made it into the world.
Then the day she was born. My love for her was greater than anything I had ever felt before. I knew from that day forward, my life would be different. I would no longer put me first, but put her first. I knew that I would do anything in my power to protect her. I knew that she meant the world to me.
Through the next few years, watching her grow and develop, has changed me even more. It has taught me even more. There are times when she gets in trouble. *Gasp* I know, shocking. A toddler, get in trouble?! But in these times, I learn so much. When she does things she should not do, guess what? I still love her. My love for her did not change just because she did something bad or wrong. I still give her hugs. I still tell her I love her.
These past 3 plus years, I have come to understand unconditional love. Agape love. I began to understand the love that God has for me. For all of us. A love that won't change. He loved me before He even knew me. When He was on the cross, I was on His mind. He purposely made me. He created me in His image. And when I sin, God still loves me. He might be disappointed, but His love for me does not change. And this is true for you, too!
It has taken me so long to learn this lesson. To comprehend this love. To be able to love. And now that I have come this far, I will do everything I can to help Little Bit know it as well. I will teach her about God's love. I will show her, to the best of my ability, His love. I don't want it to take her 20 something years to know how much God loves her.
He loved us so much that "...though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you, through His poverty, might become rich." 2 Corinthians 8:9
"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed." Isaiah 53:5
This love is possible only By God's Amazing Grace.
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