Holding Up Mirrors

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” John 13:34

Yesterday I was out walking when I received a text from my daughter asking if I was around. I told her I was and asked her what she needed. She informed me that she was at the Emergency Room with my granddaughter Tiffany and grandson Carson. She had been at home and suddenly experienced intense pain. Carson ran and got her sweater and shoes, and Tiffany grabbed her car keys. Tiffany drove the three of them to the ER and helped her into the lobby. Once they got her settled and the doctor gave her medication, she sent me the text. She told me not to worry about coming up there after-all, because the kids wanted to stay with her. She told me she would keep me informed and could tell her teens wanted to be the ones to care for her. She said that she had never been in a position to see them step up in the way they did, and it certainly blessed her. I told her that their care for her was a mirror reflection of how she had cared for them all their lives.

I was reminded this morning of this Bible verse about loving others in the same Jesus loves us. When we devote our time to God, we can’t help but to learn His heart. We watch how deeply He loves…we witness how relentless He protects…we experience how powerfully He heals… we testify to the compassion He gives. We cannot experience His love if we are not growing up in His presence. When we have bent hearts toward God, we have molded hearts toward others. What we have been given we are to share with every person God has placed in our lives. He doesn’t withhold anything based on feelings or entitlement, but abundantly shares His whole heart without reserve. This is the pattern for which we are commanded to live out our lives. We are to love with the same love He has given us…We are to forgive with the same forgiveness we have been given…We are to give grace in the same measure we have been extended. We can only do this when we spend time with God, receive His attributes and experience His love.

We should all ask ourselves daily, ‘What reflection is in the mirror this morning?’