Our small congregation decided to surprise my son on his sixth birthday. The church members decorated his Sunday school classroom with balloons and set up a small table with a cake on it. When my son opened the door, everyone shouted, “Happy birthday!”
Later on, as I was cutting the cake, my son came over and whispered in my ear, “Mom, why does everyone here love me?” I had the same question! These people had known us for only six months but were treating us as longtime friends.
Their love for my son reflected God’s love for us. We can’t understand why He loves us, but He does—and His love is freely given. We’ve done nothing to deserve His love, and yet He lavishly loves us. Scripture tells us: “God is love” (1 John 4:8). It’s part of who He is.
God has poured out His love on us so we can show this same love to others. Jesus told His disciples, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34–35).
The people in our small church community love us because God’s love is in them. It shines through and identifies them as followers of Jesus. We can’t comprehend God’s love fully, but we can pour it out on others—being examples of His unexplainable love.
How have you recently experienced God’s love through others? What can you do to reveal His compassionate ways to others today?
INSIGHT
The key word in today’s passage is glory (glorified) and is used five times in verses 31–32. Jesus describes His glory (being glorified), the glory of God (the Father), and the relationship between the two. The relationship is reciprocal: when Jesus is glorified, God is glorified; when God is glorified, Jesus is glorified.
According to Strong’s concordance, glorify means “to ascribe weight by recognizing real substance (value). ‘Glorifying God’ means valuing Him for who He really is. For example, ‘giving (ascribing) glory to God’ personally acknowledges God in His true character (essence).”
Jesus was revealed for who He really is; when He was revealed, He revealed the Father.