Jesus Gives us His Heart

This morning in prayer, I asked Jesus,

“Teach me something new about You, about Your heart.”

I didn’t know what to expect in response.

Almost immediately, I felt the Lord draw my mind and heart to a situation in my life that requires a great deal of forgiveness.

As I sat with it, reflecting on how He has been inviting me to respond over these past few months, I realized something striking: I have been given an incredible sense of mercy and love that I don’t fully understand.

Given the circumstances, the amount of mercy, love, and forgiveness I feel toward this situation almost seems foolish, even naïve. When I look at it through the lens of reason alone, it truly makes no sense.

The truth is, I know myself. 

Old versions of me would have responded with resentment, anger, and self-protection. I would have hardened my heart and justified withholding mercy.

And yet, somehow, I still see this situation with love, compassion, and mercy. I genuinely don’t understand it. This response is not something I’ve produced. It is not of me.

As I began to acknowledge the immense grace I had been given in this specific situation, I felt Jesus respond to my earlier prayer:

“Emma, I have given you a glimpse into My heart. My heart that loves and forgives no matter how many times it is wounded and bruised. My heart that returns suffering with mercy. My heart that aches for the lost to come home.

I have given you My heart.

I desire to make your heart more like Mine.”

Wow.

Jesus’ love for me, for you, is foolish. It’s reckless. It doesn’t make sense.

That He would die for me, whose sins drove the nails into His hands. That He would offer forgiveness again and again, even when it is my own transgressions that cause His pain.

And yet, He loves to this very point; to the place where it makes no sense, where it costs everything.

What a gift it is to be invited into that kind of love. To choose forgiveness and mercy when it isn’t “deserved.” To love to the point of foolishness in the eyes of the world, and to be given the grace carry that cross with supernatural peace and joy.

Thank You, Jesus, for Your heart.