“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1John 4:11). God’s love obligates us without force. We are rather persuaded by His love if it is authentic. As we grow in knowledge of the dimensions of the love released from the Father through the Son to us, our confidence in Him increases. To know His…

“Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him’ ” (John 9:3). It was customary for sicknesses and diseases to be directly associated with an act of sin. A blind man who was born that way was in question as to whether it was his sin or his parent’s…

“The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children” (Matthew 11:19). Sinners flocked around Jesus and loved to be his companions, while the religious found Him to be repulsive and were made to feel uncomfortable. Prostitutes and publicans…