Rooted in Love

There's always one thing that Jesus tells me before telling me anything else, "I love you." Jesus didn't say, "Alright. These are the conditions in which you must meet before I love you." And then name off a list of conditions. There is no doubt in this world, or in the next, that Jesus loves you. He chose the cross for you. Jesus loved you before creation and there is no sin that can turn Him away from you. But you should also know that His love is shaped like a cross, and Jesus says that if anyone wishes to come after Him, they must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Him. Following Jesus is a transformation and purification of heart and soul. I was filled with doubt when I began to follow Jesus and I always thought there was going to be something that would take me away from Him, but the more I gave myself to Him - mind, body, and spirit - there was nothing that compared to His love for me. Jesus revealed His love for me first, before anything else. Every intimate and personal encounter that I have with Jesus is overwhelmed with love. His love overcomes everything.

"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:14-19

The more that Jesus revealed His love for me, the more that I wanted to love Him in return. The more Jesus told me, "I know you." The more that I wanted to know Him too. The more that Jesus said, "I came to serve." The more that I wanted to serve Him. His love never brought a fireworks display or roses, but was a cross that held His beaten body. His love came by drops of blood that very intimately healed hurts in my heart and soul. The more that Jesus heals me, the more I deny myself in confession, take up my cross and follow Him. Jesus doesn't require us to be perfect to carry our cross. Jesus fell three times carrying His cross, and I fall all the time, but His mother Mary is with us. Mary is our constant star that lights our path to her Son. Mary is the one that says, "Don't give up." Even though what we are facing seems to the edge of unbearable, Mary says, "I'm here with you. Keep going. It is the will of the Father. I'm praying for you and He hears you." The more that I listen, the more I hear Jesus say, "I love you." Jesus loves you whether or not you know that you need to confess, but the more we choose to love Him back, the more we choose to be healed in confession. His love and mercy endure forever!