This is love in the making. The love of God is not created— it is
His nature. When we receive the life of Christ through the Holy Spirit,
He unites us with God so that His love is demonstrated in us. The goal
of the indwelling Holy Spirit is not just to unite us with God, but to
do it in such a way that we will be one with the Father in exactly the
same way Jesus was. And what kind of oneness did Jesus Christ have with
the Father? He had such a oneness with the Father that He was obedient
when His Father sent Him down here to be poured out for us. And He says
to us, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21).
Peter now realizes that he does love Him, due to the revelation that
came with the Lord’s piercing question. The Lord’s next point is— “Pour
yourself out. Don’t testify about how much you love Me and don’t talk
about the wonderful revelation you have had, just ’Feed My sheep.’ ”
Jesus has some extraordinarily peculiar sheep: some that are unkempt and
dirty, some that are awkward or pushy, and some that have gone astray!
But it is impossible to exhaust God’s love, and it is impossible to
exhaust my love if it flows from the Spirit of God within me. The love
of God pays no attention to my prejudices caused by my natural
individuality. If I love my Lord, I have no business being guided by
natural emotions— I have to feed His sheep. We will not be delivered or
released from His commission to us. Beware of counterfeiting the love of
God by following your own natural human emotions, sympathies, or
understandings. That will only serve to revile and abuse the true love
of God.
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