Do You Love Me?

“Do you love me?”
This is a question that Jesus asked Peter. It was not a rhetorical question. It had a specific purpose behind it, as did all the things Jesus spoke. Jesus was expecting an answer from Peter, but it required Peter to look inside himself to really see if the answer was true. True, meaning not what Peter understood love to be, but true based on what Jesus had taught Peter that love meant.
So while Peter answered, “Yes, Lord I love You.” Jesus knew that what Peter answered was not the answer to the question asked, so He asked the question again, “Peter, do you love me?”
Peter answered again.
Jesus asked a third time, “Peter, do you love me?”

Jesus was not asking Peter to answer about having emotional love. Jesus was asking a deeper question requiring an answer that pierced to the depths of Peter’s soul.

Now, my question to you... Do you love me?

Those of you reading this that do not know me may be thinking, “how can I love you, I don’t even know you?”

Some of you reading this may think, “I’ve known you a long time, you know I love you.”

If you are answer either way or even another way, I ask you to consider what it really means to love.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a is the answer.

I know I still have much to learn about how to love as Christ does. My love is still so superficial in so many ways; still filtered through my human experience and so prone to my fleshly, non-spirit lead ways of thinking. Thanks be to God that He is patient to continue to show me and teach me His way, in His perfect time, to bring me to His perfection... all in due time.
Be not anxious, oh my soul for that which God will bring to pass in His merciful perfected timing.

I wrote most of this post a couple weeks ago. Reading a 'The Ark' postings by Mike Duran in his blog (referred by Ame) brought this back to me. It is really about the body of Christ learning to be what God intended: Imperfect people learning how to love other imperfect people with and through the perfect example of love Jesus exemplified.