Discovering a Deeper Love
It was 33 years ago that I first walked through the doors of KENS-TV, the CBS affiliate in San Antonio, Texas. I was a lightly seasoned sports anchor who was delighted to work in her home town after a career start in Tennessee 1100 miles away.
On Friday, as I sat at around a table at a coffee shop with the news director who hired me and two of the talented women I worked with, I felt nothing but love for all of them. Love for my former news director for taking a risk and hiring a woman for sports, when it wasn’t done at the time. I was thankful he believed in me and because of my hard work; I hope he never regretted the decision.
I felt love for the women at the table. One had been a close friend over the years, the other I had not seen since retiring from television. As life goes, the women had been through dire trials since television, but were survivors. We shared about some of our difficulties and the health issues that periodically place our lives on pause. We recalled our fondest memories at the television station, as well as our lowest points, and we praised a brilliant man who led the station to a number one status for 30 years.
So as I reflect on Jesus’ death and resurrection, I am thinking about love today. I am humbled and grateful for the great love God had for us, so much so, that he sent his only Son to the cross to die for our sins. I am thankful that through the love and purification of the cross, I am able to love God’s people more deeply, despite my own inability to love as I should, despite other people’s idiosyncrasies, despite failings or betrayals.
1 Peter 1:22 says, “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” Peter adds, “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply from the heart.”
Do you love the people in your life deeply from the heart?
Is your love sincere?
Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we now have the capacity to tap into an extra reservoir of love. We can love the people in our lives despite past conflict, personality differences, or differences of opinion. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
As your family gathers this weekend to celebrate the resurrected Christ, who needs an extra dose of your love? Who do you need to forgive?
We are incapable on our own, but the cross makes it possible to discover a deeper love. Ask God to pour out his love through you to others. By doing that, it could be the most memorable Easter ever.