CHRIST’S LOVE

 

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

 

In New Light on Depression, a book Harold Koenig co-wrote with David Biebel, he said “Love—unconditional love—is the ultimate long-term antidote for depression, for at its core love is connected with faith and hope.”

When I read this, around 2007, one year after Living Room started, I was excited, because I hadn’t heard anyone talk in such spiritual terms about depression before. I thought to myself, this is the kind of love God has for us. This is the kind of love we should show to those who suffer. This is how we can truly follow Christ.

Today I remember those days when I led Living Room in person around the big table. Some of you may remember. How can I describe the warm love that enfolded us as we  studied God’s Word? And how can I express the warmth in my heart after the meeting when I sat on my bed at home, absorbing Christ’s love as it overwhelmed my soul?

In 2015 I had to retire from meeting in person with you and I felt the great loss and the pain. Despite that pain, God helped me to write, and even then you were comforted. We must thank God for this. Only under his power could this have been possible.

Dr. Koenig has been a leading researcher of faith and mental health for over thirty years. Through him and his work I’m reminded of the kind of love I knew during my Living Room days. How I welcome it! Despite my great pain, Jesus never left me.

And I know that nothing can stop the flow of his love. He will never leave us.

marja