Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of Godand knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (1 John 4:7-12 NIV)
On Monday, I had lunch with two friends from the church where I once served on staff. They were faithful prayer warriors who came in every Tuesday morning to pray for the church, and then one would come into my office to pray with me. In that season of my life, God knit our spirits together with his love. “Doris” is now 95 years old and “Jeri” is 80. Having outlasted their husbands, they both live by themselves, but have at least somewhat strained relationships with their kids and grandkids.
We last saw each other about two and a half years ago when we met for lunch—after what had probably been a 15-year gap. I’ve spent most of the last 20 years focused on raising my kids, and lunches out weren’t all that common. During that time, I kept in touch with Jeri and, by extension, Doris. It was a joy and a pleasure to be together again and catch up on life.
Jeri and I shared a car ride to the restaurant where we were to meet Doris. Both of us were somewhat subdued, as we shared the grief in our hearts for the losses in our lives. Right around the time my dad died in December, her daughter-in-law and nine-year-old granddaughter were killed in an icy crash with a semi truck. In the intervening months she has been navigating that shock, trauma and grief for herself and with her son. She regularly reminds me to just take things one day at a time. Yes, Lord; one day at a time.
But underneath the roads of loss we walk, is the love of God that brought us together in the first place. Jeri and Doris were two of the “odd” people at the church who would worship with their hands held high. They prayed for healing and salvations. They prayed in tongues. And, all these years later, they are still praying for other people. Jeri told me she still prays for me and my family twice a day. Wow, God; thank you.
Every time I talk with Jeri—whether by phone or in person—she says, “I just want more of God and less of me.” That simple prayer carries deep meaning. While our spirits are justified at salvation, we spend the rest of our lives growing in sanctification, learning to surrender our flesh. At nearly 80 years old, her steady desire to become more like Jesus and less like herself is a powerful testimony.
The other thing I have heard her say to me countless times through the years was, “I love you, and don’t you ever forget it!” Being told over and over “I LOVE YOU” is a powerful thing in a person’s life. Children need to be saturated with words and actions that show them love, but so do adults. The actions of love can come in a variety of ways, but the heart and spirit behind love are the same. God’s love is the foundation on which all other Spirit-led relationships flow. Jeri’s love for God overflows as she reminds me, “I love you, and don’t you ever forget it!” Yes, ma’am!
Today, may we be people who love others and pray for them in beautiful, Spirit-led ways. And through those moments, may we be reminded of God’s love for us—and never forget it.
God,
Thank you for the wonderful people you place in our lives—those who love us, pray for us, encourage us, and model what it means to follow Jesus by your Spirit. Help us to desire more of you and less of ourselves and the world, so that our lives overflow with your love. May we never forget how deeply you love us. We pray this in Jesus’s name, AMEN.