Lately, my heart has been touched and my soul deeply moved by reading a 19th-century book titled, The Sympathy of Christ, by Octavius Winslow. The topic of chapter six is “The Emotion of Love in Christ.” Here is an excerpt for you to enjoy (you may need to consult your dictionary or Google to define some older terms):

“Of all the sympathetic emotions of our Lord’s humanity, the emotion of Love must be regarded as the parent source…There is not a circumstance of our Lord’s history which is not another form or manifestation of love. His incarnation is love stooping; His sympathy is love weeping; His compassion is love succouring; His grace is love acting; His teaching is the voice of love; His silence is the repose of love; His patience is the restraint of love; His obedience is the labour of love; His suffering is the travail of love; His cross is the altar of love; His death is the burnt-offering of love; His resurrection is the triumph of love; His ascension into heaven, and His sitting down at the right hand of God, is the enthronement and the intercession of love. Such is the deep, the vast, the boundless ocean upon which our thoughts are about to launch.”

If you were moved by this as I was moved, then why not turn it into a prayer? “O Lord, Your incarnation is love stooping (to me); Your sympathy is love weeping (over me)…”

Loved with everlasting love, Pastor Andrew.