A mother was going shopping with her two little boys.

The children had discovered the power of the words, “I hate you!” and were hurling hate back and forth in the store.

“That’s not very nice,” their mother said. “I’m certainly not going to take two little boys who hate each other to McDonald’s for lunch.”

Five-year-old Jamie quickly backed down, “I don’t really hate you, Billy.”

But Billy, with the clear logic of a 3-year- old responded, “I still hate you! I’m not hungry.”

“I hate you.” These three words reveal how bitter we can become.

To fully understand the power of love we must first understand our ability to hate.

Hate brings with it bitterness, unforgiveness, anger and turmoil in our relationships and separation from God just to name a few horrible life experiences.

That is why love is such a transforming power, because love can set us free from all of these.

The greatest proclamation of God’s love is the most famous verse in the Bible, John 3:16. This verse is the perfect summary of the Christmas message.

I found this simple breakdown of John 3:16 to help us better understand God’s love. For God — The greatest one; So loved — The greatest degree; The world — The greatest amount of people; That He gave — The greatest generosity; His only begotten Son — The greatest uniqueness; That whosoever — The greatest invitation; Believeth in Him — The greatest simplicity; Should not — The greatest certainty; Perish — The greatest possible loss; But — The greatest difference; Have — The greatest possession; Eternal — The greatest length; Life — The greatest gift.

God’s love is an unselfish love which results in doing the best for another, even at the highest personal cost, without requiring or expecting payback.

Think about this: God loves us in spite of His holiness and righteousness.

Years ago a young banker used big leather ledgers where all accounts were entered by hand. He remembered daydreaming about those ledgers and God’s ledgers in heaven.

He thought, “We are told those books will be opened. I imagined my name, David Stuart Briscoe, and God adding up the sum total of my indebtedness against him. I could never cancel the overwhelming indebtedness. In my mind’s eye, I saw God take his pen and transfer the sum total of my indebtedness to the account of the Lord Jesus Christ. On the account of the Lord Jesus, he wrote, ‘Transferred from the account of David Stuart Briscoe.’

I thought God was finished. But then I saw him do something incredible.

He added up the total righteousness of Christ and against it wrote these words, ‘Transferred to the account of David Stuart Briscoe.’”

That’s love. Such love can change our lives.

Tony Campollo tells Joe’s story this way: “Joe was a drunk, miraculously converted in a street outreach mission. Before his conversion he’d gained a reputation as a derelict and dirty wino for whom there was no hope.

“But following his conversion to Christ, everything changed. Joe became the most caring person at the mission.

“There was never anything he was asked to do that he considered beneath him. Whether it was cleaning up vomit left by some sick alcoholic, or scrubbing toilets after men had left them filthy, Joe did it all with a heart of gratitude.

“He could be counted on to feed any man who wandered in off the streets, undress and tuck him into bed, when he was too out-of-it to take care of himself.

“One evening, after the mission director delivered his evangelistic message to the usual crowd of sullen men with drooped heads, one of them looked up, came down to the altar and kneeled to pray, crying out for God to help him change. The repentant drunk kept shouting, ‘Oh God, make me like Joe! Make me like Joe!’ 

“The director leaned over and said, ‘Son, wouldn’t it be better if you prayed ‘make me like Jesus?’

“After thinking about it for a few moments, the man looked up with an inquisitive expression and asked, ‘Is He like Joe?’”

Is He like Joe? Are we?

The greatest gift we have ever been given is Jesus Christ.

Have you received His love?

Do you know the reason for the season?

Has Christ’s love for you changed the way you treat other people? How?

Know this: If you have received Christ’s love it will change the way you love others.

To find out more about Al Earley or read previous columns, see www.lagrangepres.com.