One of my favorite all time Christian movies is "The Gospel of John". I remember watching it for the first time and the one thing that jumped out at me and captured my heart was the words, "You did not choose me, but I chose you"...
I remember at first arguing the statement in my head, as I often do, "no that's not true, I did come to you, I did choose you", and then the realization of what it meant to me to be chosen... by God.
Today in church, on this amazing Easter morning, I heard the mention of the words, "you did not choose Him, but He chose you... and I smiled. I looked around at all the amazing people that God had chosen. Each and every one of them full of gifts, each different, each unique, equally as important, yet, I'm sure that they have no idea, how truly impactful for the kingdom of heaven they are. Some know their purpose, some are swimming in purpose prodded on by a circle around them and some are loners quietly sharing their gifts without acknowledgement or need for recognition.
You did not choose Him, He chose you...
The impact of that statement draws me to tears every.single.time.
Sometimes we were not raised in homes of encouragement, many times, we were raised in broken homes full of broken people. In those homes, we learned how to earn love, beg for love, or settle for anyone who was willing to show us love for a season. We learned to settle, learned to not have value, not worthy of anything more than the left over scraps thrown about. Love perhaps looked like many things...but perhaps never genuine. Or sometimes we were raised in homes full of love, full of encouragement and full of solid foundations. Perhaps we took that for granted.
Perhaps in among that brokenness, we found someone that invested in us. Someone that showed us that we were more than we believed, that took the time to spend time with us, took time to love us in all our brokenness and helped set us back on solid ground...or perhaps we are still waiting for that someone...
You didn't choose Him, He chose you and His name
is Jesus.
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.
John 15:12-17
I remember at first arguing the statement in my head, as I often do, "no that's not true, I did come to you, I did choose you", and then the realization of what it meant to me to be chosen... by God.
Today in church, on this amazing Easter morning, I heard the mention of the words, "you did not choose Him, but He chose you... and I smiled. I looked around at all the amazing people that God had chosen. Each and every one of them full of gifts, each different, each unique, equally as important, yet, I'm sure that they have no idea, how truly impactful for the kingdom of heaven they are. Some know their purpose, some are swimming in purpose prodded on by a circle around them and some are loners quietly sharing their gifts without acknowledgement or need for recognition.
You did not choose Him, He chose you...
The impact of that statement draws me to tears every.single.time.
Sometimes we were not raised in homes of encouragement, many times, we were raised in broken homes full of broken people. In those homes, we learned how to earn love, beg for love, or settle for anyone who was willing to show us love for a season. We learned to settle, learned to not have value, not worthy of anything more than the left over scraps thrown about. Love perhaps looked like many things...but perhaps never genuine. Or sometimes we were raised in homes full of love, full of encouragement and full of solid foundations. Perhaps we took that for granted.
Perhaps in among that brokenness, we found someone that invested in us. Someone that showed us that we were more than we believed, that took the time to spend time with us, took time to love us in all our brokenness and helped set us back on solid ground...or perhaps we are still waiting for that someone...
You didn't choose Him, He chose you and His name
is Jesus.
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.
John 15:12-17
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