Abide in My love
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. (John 15:9 ESV)
John chapter 15 is well known as the “abide in Me” chapter of the book of John. Jesus instructed us to abide in Him and allow Him to abide in us. It is a two-way abiding”: He in us and we in Him. He further explains to us an aspect of our abiding in Him. He says we should abide in His love. How do you do that?
The word “abide” brings the idea of dwelling or living in a place or a house. This is the idea used in a figurative sense to communicate to us the spiritual meaning of abiding in Christ’s love. Christ’s love is conceived of as a house where we can stay in. In a sense, Jesus is telling us to stay in the house, which is His love. How do we stay there? Good question! How did you get into Christ in the first place?
You “entered” into Christ when you knew Him, believed Him and allowed Him to guide your life. The way you entered in is the way you remain or abide in there. You abide in Christ’s love when you live believing He loves you, having your thoughts and emotions filled and directed by that love. In other words, your entire life becomes guided by the reality that Christ loves you. Christ’s love is a place you can live in. For example, we might be dealing with a challenging situation, but with the consciousness and firm conviction that we are the one Jesus loves, His joy fills our hearts amid the crises. That means we are abiding in His love even in that situation.
Abide in the love of Christ!
MEDITATE
Please take a moment to reread our main verse above, ponder upon it and mutter the words out loud.
APPLY THE WORD
Not every believer abides in Christ’s love in this sense. Some might be abiding in fear, bitterness, worry, etc. Christ’s love is a beautiful place for our hearts to abide in. Abide and remain there as you go through life.
PRAY
Ask the Spirit to help you stay permanently in the love of Christ.
Free Mini E-book: From Spiritual Dryness to Flourishing
Thanks for this beautiful post and reflection. “Christ’s love is a place you can live in.” Amen! The picture is very moving. Can you tell me its source? I’d love to be able to share it with others.
My pleasure, Toni. Thank you for visiting and commenting. I cannot remember which of the image subscription sites we could got this image from, as we have changed the paid services we use for our images. We might have purchased it from 123rf photos.Another option will be to use google image search to see the sites that have the exact picture. Blessings.
Thanks, brother! Blessings to you!