Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT)
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
Christian singer Steven Curtis Chapman and his family suffered an unthinkable tragedy on May 21, 2008. Maria, his 5-year-old daughter, had been on the playground in the backyard with her two sisters and ran towards her brother, Will, when she saw him backing up the driveway in an SUV. He didn’t see her and backed right over her.
Maria died soon after.
As paramedics arrived on the scene, Will, overcome with guilt and anger, just wanted to run. Will spoke of what happened next:
“And then Caleb (his older brother), not too long after that, just kind of ran and tackled me and just kind of jumped on me and it was just like, ‘You can't leave, you can’t leave,’ and just—was just on top of me saying, ‘Everything’s going to be OK. We love you. You can't leave.’ And just—it was just that—that was super important.”
As Steven rushed his youngest daughter to the hospital, he shouted out to his heartbroken son in the field:
"Will Franklin, your father loves you."
This father had every right to be angry at his son. He had every right to be disgusted at his son. He had every right to place the blame on his son. But he didn’t. Not even for a split second. All he knew to do was love his son.
“Will Franklin, your father loves you.”
This story brings me to tears today just as it did the first time I read it. I put myself in Will’s shoes. I would want to die. I would want to stop breathing. Just as he did, I would want to run as far as I could and collapse into nothing. But in the middle of this chaos, a voice.
“Will Franklin, your father loves you.”
Wow.
Jesus loves us even more than that. His love for us is jealous. It is powerful. It is passionate. We can’t earn this love and in the same way, we can’t lose it. Jesus is the ultimate model for how we are to love each other. The Chapman family, through terrible tragedy, showed us a beautiful story of this love.
A love such as this is ours to claim. It’s now up to us to share it.
Choose love.
