Today is the FIRST birthday of my FIRST grandchild. The FIRST year of being “Granny” has been wonderful beyond description. Little Claire is so easy to love. She is one of the sweetest little humans I’ve ever met. And even though she can’t tell me yet, I really think she loves her granny too. Of course, the spoilage could have something to do with it. 😏 It’s really quite interesting, how when I get to spend time with her, I usually get nothing else done. This little human has such a big place in my heart!
It’s all about little Claire!
She is an important human to me. I am beyond convinced she is also an important human to God. But, having a grandchild and feeling this way has made me also consider the value that God places on each and every human. I love Claire and my own children for reasons that are too deep for me to really comprehend. Perhaps, it’s because they came from me? I really don’t fully comprehend this love but I can say unequivocally…
I would DIE for my granddaughter and any of my children!
And it’s hard for me to fathom that God loves them even more than I do…but He does!
According to the Bible, EVERY human is created in the image of God. God, who IS love and Who loves perfectly—loves each of us more than we can comprehend. He loved us while we were His enemies.
“For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”
Romans 5:7, 10
That God loves Claire is easy for me to imagine. But that He also loves the baby born in the Congo jungle is a little more removed from my comprehension. That God loves Frances Berenice Schreuder, a former New York socialite who was convicted of first-degree murder in 1983 for manipulating her teenage son to shoot and kill her elderly millionaire father because she feared being disinherited—is harder for me to imagine. That He loves the Ohio father and son, Timothy and Esten Ciboro, who were found guilty of imprisoning and raping a 13-year-old relative for several years in their basement—well, it just doesn’t seem possible! Yes, God loves our mean neighbor, He loves the person we can’t seem to forgive, and He loves those we gossip about. My friend, He loves you and me so much that—when we were condemned to die for our crimes against HIS love—HE thought WE were worth dying for!
God’s love for ALL of humanity is so profound that we can’t comprehend it.
But we should try.
Why?
Because when we begin to understand the love God has for us, we can give it away to anyone and experience love like we never have before. The experience of God’s love is unparalleled. You see, I think it’s a little like being a granny. When I see little Claire’s eyes light up when she sees me…it touches the depths of my heart. Believe it or not, it’s much the same experience when God’s love miraculously flows through me into someone who does not expect to be loved by me.
It is, indeed, more blessed to GIVE than to RECEIVE and—this is especially true with love.
What is this love of God that we can experience after we are born again? Well, in one word, love is “unselfishness.” Lest we need more explanation, the Bible fully defines love for us:
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
When we love others like God does, it’s like tearing down a dam and releasing the river of joy that is fed from the springs of God’s throne.
What joy! I’m thankful for this reminder as I celebrate little Claire’s Birthday today.
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6 Responses
happy birthday Claire. I have 9 grandchildren and what blessings. enjoy they grow so fast.
Thank you, Ellen—what a blessings you have NINE!!!
Happy Birthday, Claire!
Thank you…I’ll give her an extra hug from you!
Happy 1st birthday little Claire. I have one granddaughter and three grandsons. My granddaughter graduated this year and is starting college soon, pre-med. Oh how time flies by. Enjoy her while she’s so little. God bless
Thank you! What a blessing your grands must be for you! How wonderful it is that God teaches us through everything if we allow Him!