Jesus could have called His executioners by name. The men who physically nailed Christ to the Cross were loved infinitely by Him even in that moment, especially in that moment. Imagine gazing with love on someone that is hammering nails through your flesh, someone who is whipping you, someone who is ridiculing you, someone who is laughing while stripping you naked and deciding who gets to keep your clothes when you're dead, someone who kills you and seems to enjoy doing it while crowds watch and no one intervenes. It's even more miraculous, though. Imagine doing all this to someone, and having them love you in return. Imagine whipping someone, stabbing them with a lance, forcing a crown of thorns onto their head, mocking them, forcing them to carry the instrument of their own death, stripping them naked, nailing them to a cross, laughing as they suffer the most agonizing death possible. And imagine that the whole time, they love you. We have done all this. Whenever we sin, we contribute to Christ's passion, and He loves us infinitely, perfectly, from all time and into all eternity. Even as we sin, He loves us. All He asks is that we love Him in return and love others as He has loved us. Since He has given us His love so freely, what possible excuse could we have to deny it to Him or to anyone we encounter?

"We love because He first loved us." - 1 John 4:19

I'm praying for you!

:)