The Look of Love

John 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

         She was the love of my life.
         She had won my heart before I had even met her, and from the first time I saw her, my heart was forever captured.  She had beautiful brown eyes, short curly brown hair, the most gorgeous complexion, an infectious smile, and skin as soft as a baby. 
         As a matter of fact, she was a baby. 
         But she was not just any baby, she was my baby. My first baby. My Carin Marie. And I was head over heels in love with her. 
         As many first time father's can understand, I was afraid when I first thought of being a father.  Would I be any good at it? Would I be loving, kind, gentle, fair? How will I discipline this baby? How will she affect my relationship with my wife? So many questions, so many prayers.
         And then it happened. Carin was born, and before you knew it, the doctor was placing in my trembling hands a little bundle of noise. 
         "Look, momma," I said to my wife Marie, "we have our little girl".
         We brought her home, but my questions still needed to be answered. How can I show her how much I love her? How can I learn to love her? How can I learn to love?
         One day, the Lord gave me the answer.
         I was standing next to Carin's bassinet, holding her in my arms, and looking deeply into her eyes. I can remember saying to her, "Baby, your daddy loves you. He loves you with all of his heart". My eyes were brimming with tears, and I was holding her tightly as I just gazed at this beautiful bundle of love, this gift from my Father to Marie and me. As I held her, and gazed at her, my sister in law came into the room. I can still remember turning to look at her, and the look I gave to her was the same look I was giving to my baby.
         At that moment, the Lord spoke gently to my heart.
         "You have been asking Me to show you how to love" He seemed to say. "If you desire to learn to love others, then you must first look at Me. If you look at Me in the way that you are looking at your baby, then you will see that it will not be so hard to love others. The key, My son, is to first look at Me."
         How simple, and how true. 
         Today, if you find it hard to love others, spend some time looking first at Jesus.