1月22日
标 题：爱的动机
经 节：公义的父啊，世人未曾认识你，我却认识你；这些人也知道你差了我来。我已将你的名指示他们，还要指示他们，使你所爱我的爱在他们里面，我也在他们里面。（约翰福音十七章25～26节）
你不需要“整顿”神的王国；你为神的王国“苦痛”。你不可能与神亲密相交，却不被神的大爱所影响。天父以祂永远的爱来爱祂的儿子。天父心中所有的一切与祂的大爱，都传给了祂的儿子。当神明示自己对堕落世界的大爱，这份热爱也通过祂的儿子显明祂的大爱。天父订立了拯救世界的计画，神儿子接受了上十字架的任务。
当耶稣在人群中行走，天父的爱充满祂的胸怀。耶稣知道平凡的爱无法使祂甘愿上十字架。人类的爱不足以使祂愿意完全顺服天父。只有天父的大爱才能够驱使祂愿意顺服，以祂自己的生命完全天父救赎的目的。
耶稣祈求神将同样的爱放置在门徒的心里。祂知道，任何动机都不足以使门徒完成神所托付的任务。神的回答是将祂的爱子放在他们心里。一个基督徒不可能拥有神爱的胸怀，却不愿意运行神给他们的任务。
如果你没有神的爱，就无法帮助那些神要你伸出援手的人。除非先充满神无尽的爱，你不可能饶恕他人、陪他人走二里路，或为他人牺牲。要追求，要认识天父和祂那不可测的大爱，然后，让祂的爱子借着你去爱其他的人！
Our Motivation of Love
O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them. (John 17:25-26)
You do not “organize” the kingdom of God, you “agonize” the kingdom of God. You cannot be close to God without being affected by His love. The heavenly Father loved His Son with an eternal love. Everything in the heart and life of the Father was released to His Son. As the Father expressed His love for a broken and sinful world, this passion was manifested through the life of His Son. The Father initiated His plan to save mankind, and out of a heart of devotion, the Son accepted the assignment that took Him to the cross.
As Jesus walked among people, the Father’s love filled His Son. Jesus recognized that no ordinary love could motivate Him to go to the cross. No human love could keep Him perfectly obedient to His Father throughout His life. Only His Father’s love was powerful enough to compel Him to commit His life to the saving purpose of His Father. Jesus prayed that God would place this same love in His disciples. He knew that no other motivation would be sufficient for the assignments God had for them. God’s answer was to place His Son in them. It is impossible for a Christian to be filled with this measure of love and not to be on mission with God.
You will be incapable of ministering to everyone God sends you unless you have His love. You cannot forgive others or go the extra mile with others or sacrifice for others unless you have first been filled with the boundless love of God. Seek to know the Father and His immeasurable love, then allow His Son to love others through you!
