Loving Unto the End
John 13:1
"Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end."
The song writer was correct when he wrote in the song, The Love of God, "Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made, were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade; to write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry; nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky." You could never exhaust writing of God's love, for whatever has been written still does not properly describe His love for you and me.
God made the statement about Christ's love for His disciples by saying that "...he loved them unto the end." This is an amazing statement when you consider all that the disciples had done. Jesus loved his disciples before they were born, but He also loved them "...unto the end." He loved them when He first met them, but He also "...loved them unto the end." He loved them when they were doing right, but He also "...loved them unto the end."
Jesus' love was not conditioned upon how good His disciples were, but His love was conditioned by His choice to love them "...unto the end."Jesus loved Peter in spite of his ways of speaking before thinking. Jesus loved Judas Iscariot in spite of knowing that he would betray Him. Jesus loved Thomas in spite of his doubting mind. Jesus loved Peter in spite of his betrayal. Jesus loved His disciples in spite of their faithless life. Jesus loved His disciples in spite of all their weaknesses. Yes, Jesus "...loved them unto the end." His love for them was unconditional.
Let me also remind you that Jesus loves you "...unto the end." It does not matter how bad you are, Jesus loves you. It does not matter how much you may have caused Him grief, for He loves you "...unto the end." He loved you before you were born, and He will love you "...unto the end." Sure, you may have done some things that would cause others to stop loving you, but there is nothing you can do that would ever cause Jesus to stop loving you. Jesus says that He will love you all the way to Heaven. What a comforting thought that no matter what you may do, Jesus will always love you.
However, if Jesus is willing to love you "...unto the end" then don't you think you ought to love people to the end as well? It is sad that no matter what we do Jesus will love us, but when others do something to us we tend to stop loving them. True Christianity will love people in spite of what they have done. True Christianity doesn't just love people when they are good, but it loves them at their worst. The greatness of someone's love is not how much they love someone when everything is going well, but how much do they love someone when they are at their worst. If there is ever a need for a revival, it is in the area of loving people at their worst. Christianity needs a revival of loving people "...unto the end."
Are you at all like Christ in the area of His love for people? Do you love people "...unto the end." Don't allow your love for people to be a conditional love, but let your love for people be a true love that loves them even at their worst. Who is it that comes to your mind that you have pushed aside? Who have you pushed aside because they didn't treat you the way you thought they should. It is time that you love people all the way to the end, not because they do things for you, but because you choose to have a love like Christ. You need to work at being that rare Christian who loves everyone, in spite of what they have done in life or against you, "...unto the end."