Feeding Sheep

If you love me, you would . . .” Have you ever been told this? Our understanding of love is largely determined by how we have experienced love.

If our parents safely, consistently, and positively met our needs during early development, strong attachments were forged, and we experienced a form of unconditional love that let us know we have worth. Friendships, intimate relationships, and a myriad of social interactions continue to give us messages about love throughout our lifetime, and those messages impact our understanding of God. For much of my life, I have read John 21:17 as, “Tina, if you love Me—you would do this thing for Me.” Even though I was fully aware of the concept of God’s unconditional love, I did not know how to frame it within my human experience of love.

I do not think I am alone in this. I have witnessed so much misery when others try to attach doing and being to God’s love. Imagine the scene.

The disciples were enjoying a seaside breakfast with Jesus.

Peter had previously denied Jesus three times, and here we see him partially processing that denial. The simple question, “Do you love me?” does not give us a clear picture of the dynamics and emotions in this conversation; however, we are told that “Peter was grieved” (John 21:17, ESV). Jesus wanted Peter to place love in perspective.

Yes, Peter had done and said grievous things.

But understanding God’s position toward His children changes love’s definition! Peter was receiving a call, first to freedom from the human limitations on love and then to the mission of sharing this “new” love with others.

His calling was to be couched in the personal experience he had with the redemptive, restorative safety of God’s love—in spite of all he had done.

We are called to the same mission.

But in order to feed the sheep well, we must first replace our version of human love with the experience of God’s truly unconditional love.

No matter what we have done or what has been done to us, no matter how we have loved and been loved, God is always offering and longing to be our Good Shepherd, tenderly leading us to safety, provision, and care. When we are confident in knowing how God views and interacts with us, we can confidently heed His call! “If you, [put your name here], love Me—go fill others with My love!”

Tina Shorey