I love Jesus

Was thinking tonight, we throw around the phrase, "I love Jesus," a lot. We also attribute some of our actions to that love. People ask us why we save sex for marriage we say, "It's because I love Jesus." People wonder when grace is given to an undeserving person, we explain, "It's because I love Jesus." We refrain from gossip and we say it's because we love Jesus. Loving Jesus is good, but I was stopped in my tracks tonight with this reminder. The only reason there is any good in our lives is not because "We love Jesus." All the good in our lives can only be attributed to the fact that Jesus loves us. God loved us before we ever thought of loving Him. It's not our love for Jesus that motivates us to forgive, it's God's unconditional love for us that is behind it. We don't refrain from things because we love Jesus, we refrain from things because we have tasted a better life in Christ's love. God's love fills every hole in our hearts and leaves us so overflowing that love erupts from our lives onto others. Or at least that's how it should be. Because on the other hand when we fail at loving others, when we run out of grace we cannot blame it on our failure to love God. We can only blame it on our failure to know, feel, and understand God's love for us. The world doesn't need people who merely know of God, the world needs people who know God's love for them and daily rely on it. My love for God fails on a pretty regular basis, but it's God's love that picks me back up and motivates me to find my way back to loving Him.