Recently, my ninth-grade students answered the eternal question What is love?
Their answers were surprising—and touching.
Since my ninth-grade English students (the majority of which are boys) often hide their thoughts behind a façade of jokes and bravado, I gave very clear expectations for this assignment.
They were to write a definition of love—and I would be grading it. I was not looking for a right or wrong answer. I was looking for a serious answer. And I would know the difference between a serious answer and a silly one.
As students worked quietly, I walked the room and glanced over students’ shoulders. Some wrote about the feelings that love evokes. Others wrote of the commitment love requires. Yet even more of them reflected on the sacrifice love demands. Later, as I sorted through the definitions they wrote, I noticed another pattern. Multiple boys—maturing young men—said that love means that a person is willing to die for someone else.
Some pointed to Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross as the ultimate demonstration of love.
I smiled. They do get it.
The Love of God
Two days later, I attended a Christmas concert with friends. As we sat in the top row of the balcony in a church holding hundreds of people, pianist Kim Collingsworth reminded me of that love again:
“Can you imagine?” she asked us. “Can you imagine being God—living in all that splendor—then coming to earth and letting someone put a diaper on you?”
Unsettling thought.
Yet Jesus—God the Son—did so. He did it to redeem His creation. These creatures that He created with souls—who rebelled against Him—were so beloved by Him that He gave up glory, power, and splendor.
We were the ones who sinned against God. Yet we are so weak that we cannot make our relationship with God right again in our own power. Jesus had to become “sin for us . . . that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Jesus came to earth over 2,000 years ago, lived a holy life, and died on a cross of wood. Yet it was not just a physical death that enabled mankind to be reunited with God. No, as Jesus hung on that cross, the sins of mankind were poured upon Him. As the world went dark for three hours, Jesus bore the wrath of God.
What is it like to experience an eternity of the wrath of God?
I can’t even imagine. Yet Jesus supernaturally did so. He is the only One who could bear it. And once it was completed, He cried out, “It is finished!”
He died.
But because He is God, Jesus did not stay dead. Three days later, He rose from the grave, conquering death. Now, those who accept Christ’s sacrifice can have a restored relationship with God (Ephesians 2:13–16).
An Expanded Definition of Love
As I think about the God’s love this Christmas season, I ponder that there is more to love than dying for someone.
Love sacrifices every personal delight, desire, and ambition. It suffers for the good of the beloved one. It restores broken relationships. It does everything in its power to make someone else holy—to free the loved one from sin and its destruction.
That Love is a serious love—One that is beyond my human comprehension.
That Love calls us to respond with joy and gratitude.
That Love compels us to celebrate.
Merry Christmas!
Copyright © 2024 by Carmen Dillon. All rights reserved.
Share:
One of my favorite songs about God’s love is titled “The Love of God.” Check out Matt Fouch’s version of this song here: “The Love of God“
Check out my book Opening the Hope Chest: A Single Girl’s Guide to Homemaking.
Aren’t middle schoolers fascinating? They definitely can think deeply about a subject. Sounds like you found an effective way to engage with them. I also like the song ‘The Love of God.’
Have a blessed Christmas!
Yes! Middle schoolers are processing a lot. I tell them all the time, “I know you are deep thinkers! Say something!” lol.