love

a few months ago, we got to sit down with some friends that helped us draw out our personal life statements. it was a great exercise. part of the process, is reading a long list of character traits and ultimately narrowing it down to one.

mine is love.

i don't know that at first glance of the list, i would have necessarily picked that as my top choice, but it was one that i immediately added to my top ten list, without a second thought. then to my top five list...then it became the one.

this morning i read this statement: the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome. it's  from the bible. john 1:5, to be exact.

why is this significant? because to me, at my core, is love. and love is light.

this reminds me of the story in john 8 about the adulteress.


¹ but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

   ² At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. ³ The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group ⁴ and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. ⁵ In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” ⁶ They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

   But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. ⁷ When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸ Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

   ⁹ At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. ¹⁰ Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

   ¹¹ “No one, sir,” she said.

   “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

clearly this woman was into some kind of mess. it's the morning...i imagine her looking disheveled, no doubt embarrassed. not to mention, she is being used as a token in this game the pharisees are playing with Jesus. but Jesus represents truth and light. she's got to be scared out of her mind. as we all are, when our sin, our darkness, our adultery, comes to light. and let's be honest. it appears hers was forced into the light.

think about what you do when you wake up to brightness. or you walk outside of a movie theater during the day into the blazing sunshine. you squint. it's disorienting. it doesn't feel good. it's the same when our darkness comes out into the light.  we are exposed. we feel shame. we make excuses (well, i do, anyway). it doesn't feel good.

Jesus takes a vulnerable posture. He stoops down. He is not defensive. He answers their question with a question, as He often does, because He knows the question to what we are really asking. not what's coming out of our mouths. He knows our every detail and our every need. He knows what will give us light.

light is healing. restorative. healthy. He cares about this woman and tells her to, 'leave your life of sin.' i really believe that this statement says so much. when He tells her to sin no more, it's because what she's been doing has brought darkness and death. it's not life giving to be away from the light. i also believe, that if they ever saw each other on the street again, she would not avoid him.

that is love, right there.


love is light. love is bearing the weight of another's sin--absorbing the cost of an offense. love is sacrifice. love is grace. love is mercy. love keeps no record of wrongs. love forgives. love is renewal. love sets us free from darkness. love is LIFE. love is, Jesus makes it so. He makes a way for us to come in to the light and be loved by the Father through Him. for anyone. 

amen, and amen.

thanks for reading.