God’s love, which is stronger than death, is causing me to continue walking the path of the mission the Lord has given me (John 6:1–15). “At that very time some Pharisees came and said to Him, ‘Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill You.’ He replied, ‘Go tell that fox, “I will keep driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach My goal.” In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem! Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see Me again until you say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Luke 13:31–35). ...
Tough Love
A long time ago, on the radio program Focus on the Family, I remember
Pastor James Dobson mentioning the term tough love. That memory came to mind today while I was
having a conversation with three sisters whom I met for the first time. Perhaps the reason it resurfaced was that we
were discussing family matters—particularly how we, as parents, should love our
children—and sharing our concerns and thoughts on the subject. When I mentioned to them that as parents, we
sometimes need to show tough love to our children, one of the sisters responded
by saying that she had considered loving her children unconditionally (just as
God loves us unconditionally) but had never really thought about the need for
tough love before. In response, I
explained that while God does indeed love us unconditionally, His love is also
a tough love. For example, just as God
led the Israelites into the wilderness during the Exodus, He sometimes leads us
into the wilderness to humble us and to teach us that man does not live by
bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Deuteronomy
8:2). Therefore, I believe that when we
love our children, we must maintain balance. God’s love includes both
unconditional love and tough love. In
the same way, we must love our children with that balance.
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