"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world."
How great is His love for us. It makes no difference what our culture, our ethnicity, our language, our mindset, our belief system or even our social standing heralds, He loves each and every one of us the same.
Being a young mother expecting my second child, I worried that I wasn't going to have the same love for my new baby as I did for my first. I mean, I had never experienced the kind of love I had for my first baby before. It was wonderful, exhausting, glorious, exhausting, emotional, and exhausting. I loved loving my baby. So, when the second was almost ready to meet the world, this mama's heart cried out to God for the ability to hold love for two babies. Any mama with two or more children know that God enlarges your heart's capacity to love that beautiful newcomer. Of course, the same went for babies three through seven. Isn't God amazing that way?
...fair is not the same as equal...love each of them the same, but sometimes we have to raise them differently, which doesn't look equal but it is still fair.
The thought of Him loving palace-dwellers the same as ditch-dwellers doesn't sit right in my earthly understanding, but to God there is no distinction. He loves them the same.
"Agape is disinterested love. Agape does not begin by discriminating between worthy and unworthy people, or any qualities people possess. It begins by loving others for their sakes. Therefore, agape makes no distinction between friend and enemy; it is directed toward both." - Martin Luther King Jr.
When our children were growing up, since each was so different, we had to customize our parenting for whatever challenges came up. (Of course there were some hard and fast non-negotiables.) While doing so, we were mindful to show fairness even if the situations were different. After enduring some finger-pointing with accusations of inequity, I realized that fair is not the same as equal. I further relayed to my children that I love them each the same, but sometimes have to raise them differently, which doesn't look equal but is still fair. I would do the same thing each of them needed me to do. This was God's conclusion too. He would make the same sacrifice for each of us. Jesus did the same willing, sacrificial act for all of us.
This is what we take to the nations in order to take the nations!
God's great love. Jesus' selfless sacrifice. Our debt as sinners, PAID IN FULL. You are loved the same as me, although we are different, we are the same.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life!" - John 3:16
"Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight..."