Recently, I was chatting with a young mother who shared with me about her son, who is under ten years old. He often complains that his mom doesn't love him as much as Jesus does. On one hand, I was touched by the child's innocence and simplicity. On the other hand, I was surprised by how real Christ's love is to him—so real that he compares it to the love of his own mother. Perhaps his thinking is simple, or maybe it’s just an excuse to seek his mom’s attention, but it does reflect the fact that the love of Jesus Christ surpasses even the love of the closest human relationships.
As adults, we rarely make such comparisons. Theoretically, we can all affirm that Christ’s love is deep and unfailing, yet our hearts often seek comfort more readily in the love from the people around us. When people fail to meet our expectations, we experience disappointment, frustration, and pain. As Christians, we understand that nothing can compare with God’s perfect love. This Holy Week and Easter season calls us to remember the heart of the Gospel - “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
The great love of Jesus Christ is revealed through His death and resurrection. We are invited to experience His love personally and daily — through prayer, through our everyday routines, and through the quiet moments of our walk with Him. God listens to our prayer, and whether He grants our requests or not, it is always out of His perfect love.
Yet how much of God’s love do we truly comprehend — not just intellectually, but deeply, in our hearts ?
There is a difference between knowing “God loves me” and being utterly convinced of it in the depths of our being. Only when both mind and heart are united in this truth can we respond in a fitting manner — not out of a sense of duty or religious habit, but from a genuine desire and longing for God, filled with passion and zeal.
One blind spot we often overlook is this: Do we focus too much on the outcomes of our prayers, and too little on prayer itself being a form of loving communion with God? If we truly believe that God loves us so much that He gave His life for us and offers us the most precious gift of eternal hope, then how could He not know or care about our present circumstances?
Let us begin from today by asking God to help us understand His love more fully—from the head to the heart. May His love be the firm foundation for how we live, how we pray, and how we love others.
最近和一位年輕媽媽聊天，她笑著告訴我，她不滿10歲的兒子總是抱怨媽媽沒有耶穌基督愛他。一方面感嘆孩子的可愛單純，另一方面，我也很訝異於小朋友的思想，耶穌基督的愛對他來說如此真實，以至於可以和媽媽的愛來對比。也許小朋友的想法很簡單，也許只是抱怨媽媽的一個藉口，然而，這確實是一個事實，耶穌基督的愛大過這世界上人與人之間最親密的愛的關係。
對成人來說，我想我們很少會把基督的愛和身邊人的愛來對比。理論上，我們都知道耶穌基督的愛是深厚偉大的，然而實際上，我們也許更享受身邊人給我們的愛，我們也會因為身邊的人沒有像我們所期待的愛我們而耿耿於懷，失望痛苦。成為基督徒以後，我們知道神的愛才是最完美的，這一周正是受難週暨復活節假期，我們被提醒「惟有基督在我們還作罪人的時候為我們死，神的愛就在此向我們顯明了（羅馬書5:8）。」耶穌基督的大愛，透過祂的死而復活；神願意聽我們的禱告，成就或不成就我們的祈求，都是出於祂的愛。
然而，我們對於神的愛能夠體會多少呢？頭腦上知道神愛我、從心裡感受到神愛我，還是有不同的。只有當頭腦和心靈都明白神的愛，我們才可以真正地對神的愛作出合理的回應。這回應不是出於責任，出於例行公務，而是出於對神的愛慕和渴望，帶著熱忱和激情。有一個盲點是：我們有時候是否過度重視禱告的果效，而忽略了禱告也是我們與神之間愛的交流？假如我們確切地相信神愛我們以至付出生命代價，賜給我們最好最寶貴的禮物，就是關乎未來的永生盼望；那我們眼前的遭遇，神豈會不知道或不管呢？讓我們從今天開始，祈求神讓我們從頭腦到心靈都更明白祂的愛，因此成為我們在世為人最堅實的後盾。
