"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16
After watching the morning news report on the aftermath of yet another school shooting, I began yesterday's run with a very heavy heart. "When will it stop Lord? Why? What would cause a person, especially someone so young with their whole life ahead of them, to do such a heinous thing?" And then I remembered an often repeated saying, "Hurt people Hurt people." You see, people who have experienced physical or emotional pain, abandonment, neglect or abuse tend to inflict that same pain onto others in an attempt to rid themselves of it. But as we all know, that just adds more pain and repeats the cycle. But what if the opposite was also true? That Loved people Love people? Then the answer would simply be to ensure that everyone knew they were loved, right?
The truth is, every one of us is loved. Some of us know it and some of us don't. Some of us have (or had) an earthly father that expresses his deep feelings of affection towards us and some of us don’t. Either way, there is a Father in Heaven that "so loved" each and every one of us that "He gave His one and only Son," to die on a cross while were still sinners. In fact, Jesus loves us so much that, if there had only been one of us on this earth, He would still have suffered and died that same death - so that every individual "who believed in Him" would "not perish but have eternal life." And this is the love that the world needs to hear about! Only Jesus has the power to heal the heart of every hurting person - opening their eyes to see themselves as He does... adored, valued and worth dying for.
So to answer the question of when it will stop? Senseless acts of violence will only stop when every person experiences the love of Jesus Christ. And this will be done only when every Christian heeds the command to tell others about the Lord. So let us today, in the words of Jeremy Camp declare, "I know the answer to every question... Jesus. He is the answer."
Heavenly Father, thank you for the knowledge that we are dearly loved. Help us to truly grasp how hopeless millions of people are that don't have that same knowledge. I pray that we have a renewed sense of urgency today to share the Good News at every opportunity and to look for ways to reach out and love the lost and the hurting. May we truly be your hands and feet. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen.
Happy Running!!!
The Answer - Jeremy Camp
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