Uncovering the Love of Jesus

Preparing Your Heart for Easter, today on Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman. This is God's invitation to you to slow down, remember who God is, remember how He loves you, remember Jesus' love and His death and His resurrection.

Welcome to Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman, author of the New York Times bestseller, "The 5 Love Languages" . Today, author Asherita Choo Choo joins us to help us prepare our hearts to celebrate what God did for us in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Our featured resource today is a Lent devotional titled, Uncovering the Love of Jesus.

You can find out more at our website, FiveLoveLanguages.com. Gary, I don't know about you, but there is a sense that these weeks leading up to Easter Sunday can go by without a whole lot of reflection or contemplation about what we're actually celebrating. Is it different for you there in your church in North Carolina? Well, Chris, I think not only from my church but a lot of evangelical churches, we don't give a lot of emphasis to building up to Easter and preparing our hearts and reflecting on the resurrection and the implications of the resurrection. So I'm really excited today about this conversation. I think that obviously liturgical churches make much of this and non-liturgical churches don't make as much. But I think we all need to be thinking more about it because, listen, the resurrection is the main thing.

As Paul said, if he was not risen, there's no hope. So, yeah, I'm excited about our conversation today on how to make the most of these next few weeks. Well, let me reintroduce our guest. Asherita Choo Choo grew up as a missionary kid in Romania. She's a writer and speaker with a number of books, including her Advent devotional, Unwrapping the Names of Jesus.

We've talked about that here before. Her Lent devotional is our featured resource. It's titled Uncovering the Love of Jesus.

Just go to FiveLoveLanguages.com. Well, Asherita, welcome back to Building Relationships. Thank you so much for having me back. I'm excited to be here. Talk about the topic of Lent.

I mean, why do you think it's important for us to consider this? Yeah, well, I didn't grow up observing Lent, but I have had that sensation of Easter sneaking up on me. I mean, have you ever felt that way, like you're unprepared to celebrate Jesus's death and resurrection?

And in college, that's kind of when I stumbled on it. But over the past few years, I've come to appreciate the season of slowing down and remembering and reflecting on Jesus's death, his sacrifice, his sufferings on our behalf. I mean, scripture says over 150 times, remember, remember God's goodness, remember what he's done, remember that you're dust. And Lent invites us into the season of reflecting on our own human frailty. It gives us space to grieve what is broken in the world. It gives us an opportunity to practice fasting and sacrificial giving and prayer in a way of entering into a season of preparing our hearts to celebrate Jesus. And in the past few years of observing Lent, both myself and with my family, it has become such a beautiful celebration in the calendar year. So even though I didn't grow up with it, I'm just so grateful for this season that we have to prepare our hearts to celebrate Jesus's resurrection. I've observed that a lot of the younger evangelicals, millennials, have become more interested in traditions and rituals.

Why do you think this is true? Yeah, that's really surprised me too, but I noticed it when I went to college and I'm a millennial, just for the record. And I went to college and a lot of my friends were doing this Lenten fast and I had never heard of it. But they were giving up sugar or Facebook or The Bachelor, like just random things. And I thought, okay, I guess we're doing this. So I thought I'd give up sugar for the duration of Lent.

But we can come back to that story. But what I noticed, especially in my generation, is a desire to connect back to the older ancient rituals of the church. I, for one, am so grateful for the Reformation and for a return to God's Word as that which guides us. Strong biblical doctrine. But I think millennials, we want to maybe embrace some of the traditions that have been lost.

Kind of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, if you will. And this desire to focus on Christ alone and on scripture alone. I think we've lost some of the beauty of these rituals and traditions that enrich our spiritual lives as we go. And so it's Advent, it's Lent.

There are churches maybe from evangelical backgrounds that haven't ever observed these liturgical church traditions. And they're starting to become interested. I think because of this millennial generation saying, I feel there's something more. I want to get my feet under me.

I want some grounding. And so turning to these practices that are thousands of years old. Like Lent started with the early church, we have records from the early 100s recording the season of 40 days of fasting and preparing before Easter. So there's something beautiful in joining with believers throughout the millennia in preparing our hearts this way. You know, one of the things that I think is happening here is the same thing that goes on in my heart with the hymns of the church.

And I'm all for worship songs and sing a new song, write new songs. But there's something that happens when I sing a hymn that I know that my mother and father sang and my grandfather. You know, there's a connection that you get of over the centuries of these things that I think a lot of younger people and even in my age, I don't want to lose that connection with those who've gone before. I think there is that connection that you're talking about.

And especially, sadly, in our day and age, there's this anything goes mentality, right? Like your truth can be your truth and I can have my truth and let's just not contradict each other. And in this space of relativism, I think there's something so beautiful and grounding and saying, no, this isn't just my truth. This isn't just something that I made up or I believe. This is something that people have clung to for 2,000 years. And it is true because it is God's truth that we're standing on. And you're right, Chris, that connection with our grandparents and our great grandparents and all the way back. That's why you have millennials turning to the creeds and beginning to recite those creeds and pulling in some of these ancient traditions. And I just think it brings such a richness to our spiritual lives. Seems to me that the purpose of your book is to really encourage Christians to prepare emotionally and spiritually for Easter Sunday where we celebrate the resurrection. Why is this preparation important? Oh, it's important and it's also a challenge.

And I think they're both part of just where we are in history. I mean, we live in such a fast-paced world with a smartphone in our hands and the internet in our pockets. It's a nonstop go, go, go. And it's so easy to get to Holy Week, to get to Palm Sunday and then Good Friday and feel like I know intellectually, I know this is an important season. But it's like my heart has not caught up with my mind. I'm not prepared in my heart and in my spirit to fully enter into the celebration. You can't truly celebrate Resurrection Sunday without first passing through the valley of death that is Good Friday.

And we can't rush that. We need, as humans, we need to slow down to enter into the season of mindfully, consciously, intentionally reflecting on who Jesus is, how he loved us, why. Philippians 2 says that he let go of the glories of heaven and took on the form of a servant and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. So, yeah, you might be able to do that in just one week if you start on Palm Sunday and just spend those few days leading up to Easter Sunday, preparing your heart. But there's such beauty and richness, I keep coming back to that word, in taking this period of Lent, which is 40-ish days, to truly pause and ponder who Jesus is, how he loved us, and how that love led him not just to the cross, but led him to become victorious over death in his resurrection.

I think those of us who are believers are saying, as we hear that, yes, yes, yes, that's what we want to do. But sometimes, as you said, we don't take time to do it, and we don't have ideas on how do I emotionally, spiritually experience this as I move toward the wonderful day of the resurrection. Asharita, walk with us through Lent.

What is the history of it? You mentioned a date earlier, but what's the history of Lent, what's behind it, and then what happens each week? Historical records reveal that the church has been observing a period of fasting and preparation preceding Resurrection Sunday since the times of the apostles, actually, but it wasn't formalized as a universal practice until the first council of Nicaea in 325. So believers would get together, and because baptism is one of the symbols that we have in our Christian life that symbolizes our own death to sin and our resurrection with Jesus Christ, oftentimes churches in the early part of the 200s, 300s would organize baptisms to take place on Easter Sunday. And so these believers would go through a time of learning about Jesus and preparing for the baptism, as well as repenting, because they were coming out of cultures that were seeped in idolatry and different gods, and so older believers would take them alongside and teach them the way of Jesus. And that sometimes wouldn't last anywhere from just the 40 days to two years of what is called catechism. But 40 days was an intentional time that a believer and the person who was mentoring them would fast together, pray in an intentional way to prepare them for this public symbol of death with Jesus Christ and resurrection with him on Easter Sunday. And then the council of Nicaea formalized it as a practice that was encouraged for all churches and for all people who are in the church to go through this period of, once again, repenting of the sins that have accumulated in our lives, a time of fasting from the things that lure us from wholehearted devotion to Jesus, a time of prayer and devoting ourselves to not just remembering his death and resurrection, but also preparing ourselves as the bride of Christ for his second coming, and a time of sacrificial giving, focusing on the widows and the orphans and the poor among us. And so sacrificing our own luxuries on behalf of those who do not have, because Jesus says when you give and do good to one of the least of these, you do it to me. So it's really a time of resetting our hearts, our attention, our values, our goals, and focusing our hearts on the eternal things of God. But over time, some people have turned this Lenten period into an obligation rather than an invitation, and it became rigorous. And, you know, we as humans have this checklist mentality, right? God, what do I have to do to be right with you?

And if you tell me I need to fast for 40 days, then that's what I'll do. And it becomes this transactional activity between us and God, as if we can manipulate him. And so a few hundred years ago, there were people who rebelled against that and said, no, we do not earn our salvation. And kind of like we said earlier, just set aside everything that would hint at this workspace salvation. And so now we find ourselves in, you know, the year 2020 when we're recording this. A few hundred years later, kind of grappling for, our souls feel like they need a time of preparation.

And so I think that's why we're finding this millennial generation saying, yes, let's return to this ancient practice. So practically speaking, Lent is 40-ish days. Sundays have always been considered by the church a day of celebration, because that is the day that Jesus resurrected. And so Sundays are not included in the counting of the 40 days, because people would not fast on that day. They wanted to celebrate instead.

So it works out to roughly 44 or 45 days, actually. And those are the three spiritual disciplines that I mentioned, fasting, prayer, and giving, sacrificial giving, that are a part of this. Do each of the weeks have a different emphasis traditionally? That's what surprised me as I was researching Lent, because I didn't grow up observing this. And Advent does have like a different theme each week of the four weeks leading up to Christmas. Lent doesn't really. There are these three spiritual disciplines that kind of ground the focus and kind of what we do during Lent.

But I haven't found there to be themes for the weeks of Lent. You mentioned that you did not experience Lent personally until you were in college. Tell us about that first experience. Was it what you expected? What was it like? As I mentioned, I didn't grow up with it.

I went to college in my freshman year. So many of my friends were giving something up for Lent. I was familiar with the practice, but just because I've heard other denominations do it. We hadn't done it growing up, but it was kind of peer pressure at that point because so many people were asking me, what are you giving up for Lent?

And I felt like I had to give them an answer. So I caved in and I gave up sugar. And I'm not quite sure what I expected. I think maybe I thought it would just give a renewed spiritual vigor or maybe a deeper understanding of God. But by Easter, I didn't experience any of that. I mean, I lost five pounds because I wasn't eating all my favorite foods, but those pounds quickly came back after Easter. And I hadn't really experienced what I had expected.

And I was really disappointed. It wasn't until a few years ago, and we talked about this with my book, Fool, when I started studying what Scripture has to say about fasting and about food and turning our hearts from the things that we run to for comfort and turning instead to God with mourning and weeping and repentance, that I discovered the meaning of fasting, right? It's not just giving something up as if that magically is going to make us grow spiritually. Actually, what I found is it's so tempting when we fast to replace it with something else if we're not intentional about focusing our hearts on God's word and on prayer and on seeking Him.

And so instead of sugar, it's easy to turn to Netflix or social media or online shopping or wine, right? Whenever we leave a void, that void will be filled by something else. So the purpose of fasting during Lent isn't just to try to flex our spiritual willpower muscles or try to prove to God how dedicated we are to Him. Truly, the purpose of fasting is to remove something good, a good gift from God, and to say, God, I want You more.

You are the giver. And so I turn my heart from this, and I want to seek You instead. And that's why I think it's so important that we intentionally include these spiritual disciplines of prayer and reading scripture and giving sacrificially, because we need to fill that void with Jesus and learning about Him. Asharita, as you talk about that, I think that's one of the reasons or problems that some evangelicals have with this whole thing, the liturgical thing is, and maybe it's me projecting, but it feels like a works-righteousness thing. You know, it feels like I'm going to make God happy with me, and I'm going to do this or that or the other thing, and I keep coming back to, but it's His grace. It's what Jesus accomplished for me.

It's not what I do for Him. But what you're saying is, you accentuate your dependence on God in this season by taking away something good so that you see even more how much it is Him and not you doing it. Is that kind of what you're saying?

Yeah, yeah, exactly. And like any other spiritual discipline, I mean, we can do it wrongly or badly or poorly, right? Like, I can pray in a manipulative way, but that doesn't mean I stop praying, right?

It means that I ask God to correct me and teach me the right way to pray. So we can fast wrongly, but that doesn't mean we stop fasting. And if anything, fasting more than any other spiritual discipline has taught me just my dependence on God, right? Because I fail. I fail in my fasting.

There are times when I do run to the sugar, when I said I wouldn't. And those times are so critical because I can either turn inward in shame and hide myself from God and allow that defeat to drive me further away from Him, or I can allow that to remind me that I am human, that I need God, I am desperate for Him, and that failure is to really act as a symbol of the failures in my life. And so it brings to mind all the other ways that I continue to sin, that I continue to run away from God instead of seeking Him. And I think when we enter into Lent and fasting with that perspective of, Lord, teach me, I want to learn through this experience. Holy Spirit, guide me, show me, where am I running away from you? And when I fail, Lord, make me quick to run back to you in repentance and to ask you to cleanse me of everything, not just this failure in fasting, but my pride, my anger, the ways that I judge the people who are closest to me, the ways that I turn to my phone when I am bored or angry or upset instead of turning to you.

Fasting really, I think, brings up those hidden sins in our hearts that it's easy for us to hide or for us to not look at. And I think that is where we enter into this partnership with the Holy Spirit and we ask Him to reveal to us our hidden sins. And in that way, it really is remembering Jesus' testing in the wilderness.

That's why it's 40 days is to recall His testing. And His testing was based on the Israelites wandering 40 years. And God tested them and they failed time after time.

And Jesus entered into that same wilderness testing symbolically to be the only one who perfectly resists sin. And so there's so much hope as we enter into this same wilderness testing of Lent. We fail and yet our eyes are fixed on Jesus and His love and how He perfectly accomplished what we cannot. Eshweta, do you think what Chris mentioned earlier, the fact that some evangelicals have said, well, you know, this is a works thing and emphasizes works to please God, do you think that is the main misconception that people have about Lent or are there other misconceptions? I think that's one of the primary ones is that we're somehow trying to earn God's favor. But I think if we're being honest with ourselves, we do that too. I mean, maybe it's not Lent, but maybe we think if I do my daily devotions every day, then I somehow secure God's favor. If I go to church every week, then that's going to make God pleased with me. I mean, we have our own rituals that we go through and anything, anything that we ascribe salvation power to aside from Jesus Christ is an idol.

And we don't often talk about that. So again, I want to invite people to maybe set aside these preconceptions and to truly enter into an open heart and maybe even just start with a prayer and say, Lord, is this something you're calling me to? Would you help me understand how can I better prepare my heart to celebrate you? How can I open my heart to your searching light? I mean, Lord, search me, know me. Is there any hidden sin in my life?

Help me to repent and to turn to you. And it might not be a 40-day Lenten fast. It might be something else. But I just encourage listeners, whatever it is, have that conversation with God and ask Him to show you how does He want to draw you closer to His heart?

Yeah. And I think your book would help any individual who is thinking with us today on this program and saying, you know, hey, maybe there's something here that would be meaningful to me. Maybe this would be a meaningful experience. I think your book would be a helpful guideline to them. And I'm assuming that would be a part of the reason you wrote it.

Right. So I did. My book, Uncovering the Love of Jesus, really came out of a desire to say, Lord, how can we focus our hearts on you during this season? I mean, I've found, especially in recent years, we're seeing a lot of Advent devotionals coming out, helping us focus on our hearts on Jesus during the Christmas season. But I didn't really find anything for that season coming before Easter. And I really wanted to immerse myself in the Gospels and in the life of Jesus, not just in the Holy Week, the seven days leading up to Easter Sunday, and not just those last few chapters which talk about the last hours of His life.

Those are all beautiful chapters. But I wanted to take this time, these 40 days leading up to Easter, to really walk with Jesus in the Gospels, to slow down and enter these narratives of how He interacted with people and how He talked with them. And as I spent over a year just in the Gospels, slowing down, looking at verse by verse, trying to put myself in these people's sandals, so to speak, what would it have been like to be the woman who had been bleeding for years and years and years, and to touch the hem of Jesus's robe, and to feel power coming through me and healing me? And that heart-stopping moment when He turns around and says, Who touched me? That woman was expecting condemnation. She was expecting to be judged and mocked and perhaps punished. And Jesus's love, oh, His love, when He looks at her and says, Daughter, not only are you healed, but your sins are forgiven.

Go in peace. So many beautiful moments like that, that just reveal Jesus's love. And that's my heart for the season of lunch, that as we take things out, that we would replace them with God's word. And as we focus and meditate on Jesus's love, that love would just overflow out of our hearts into the lives of others as well. Asherita, the last time that you were with us, when we were talking about your Advent devotional, you gave a text number and some ideas, some activities. Are you doing that with this one as well?

Yes, absolutely. I'm so glad you brought that up, because over the past few years, as I've been sharing about my own journey with Lent, I've heard from so many readers who said, I really want to help my children, my family understand that Easter is not about the Easter Bunny, and it's not about the candy, and it's not about all these other things. I want them to know it's about Jesus, but I just don't know how. And so I've put together a Lenten Family Activity Guide.

It's over 30 activities that will help you creatively enter the season of fasting, maybe some creative ways to pray or to give to people in need, some fun activities for children, young and old, to picture and kind of enter into the Gospel story. So listeners can get that Lenten Family Activity Guide by texting the word LOVE to 33777. All right, so again, you text the word LOVE to 33777.

Asharita will send you the Lenten Family Activity Guide. Again, text LOVE to 33777. Asharita, you mentioned earlier that in writing this devotional, Uncovering the Love of Jesus, you spent a whole year really studying, walking through the life of Jesus again, and his personal interactions with people. What surprised you most about Jesus' love as you did that journey?

To be honest, I entered into this study of the Gospels with kind of a thesis, and I turned to 1 Corinthians 13, which is known as the love chapter, a lot of times it's read at weddings, and my thesis was, if God is love, and if Jesus is the representation of God, the very image of God, as John 1 tells us, then it would make sense that Jesus embodied each of these characteristics of love. Love is patient. Love is kind. It doesn't hold grudges. It doesn't seek its own good. It doesn't reject anyone.

It honors those who are dishonored. It loves the least of these, all these things that were told in 1 Corinthians 13. As I was reading through that chapter at the beginning of this study, some stories immediately came to mind, and I was like, oh yeah, I can see how Jesus is patient. I can see how he's kind. But some of the other characteristics of love, I had to really pause and say, did Jesus embody that?

I'm not sure. And so it was entering into the Gospels with curiosity to say, if God is love, and Jesus is the embodiment of God in human flesh on earth, I want to know how did he love this way, because I also want to love this way. And I was surprised that not only did each of these characteristics of love show up in the Gospels in Jesus's life, but I was surprised by the intimacy of his love toward people who came up to him. And not only toward the three disciples in his most intimate group, not just the 12 disciples, but to perfect strangers and honestly to enemies. And there's this building of tension as we start in the beginning with the wedding at Cana and the way that he loved that bride and groom by providing wine at their feast.

Protecting them from shame in this honor-shame culture. Building from that all the way to the very last scenes in the Garden of Gethsemane and loving Judas as he came up to kiss him on the cheek. The symbol of friendship and trust and love, Judas turned around into betrayal. And yet Jesus loved Judas even in that moment. The way he loved the high priest servant by healing his ear.

I mean, this was the enemy that had come to arrest Jesus. And yet that is the last recorded healing miracle in the Gospels, as Jesus heals his enemy's ear. There's so many moments that are poignant when we slow down and consider, wow, the great, great love of God in Jesus.

I have to be honest, I have not reflected on the reality of what you just said. I remember Jesus healing the ear, but that was his last miracle and it was done to his enemy. That is profound. So we talk about the sacrificial love, which obviously was in Jesus.

And what are some practical ways that we practice such love? Well, Gary, I think you're going to love this because you were actually on my mind as I was pondering this part of the book and of this invitation into Lent. Because it's so easy when we think about, okay, what should I give up for Lent?

It's so easy to think about things or activities, right? We talked about sugar and social media, or maybe there's a certain pleasure that you take in life and you give that up for Lent. But as I was reflecting on the season of Lent and the historical purpose of it, as well as at the same time studying the love of Jesus in the Gospels, I realized that sacrificial love is the heart of Lent because Easter is the story of Jesus' love poured out for us. And so it's not so much giving something up for our own spiritual growth as much as it is entering into Jesus' sacrificial love toward others. I mean, it's so much easier to give up fancy coffee than it is to love a family member who wounded you in childhood. It's easier to cut a check to your favorite charity than it is to sacrifice your own time and energy. But it is Jesus' great love that flows toward us and fills us and flows through our lives into the lives of others that really reflects his sacrificial love.

And it's not a way of earning. It's a response of gratefulness and gratitude. And so my invitation to those who read this devotional, to listeners who are considering entering the season of Lent, is that we would love one another. Jesus says this in his last hours with his disciples in John 13. He says, Love one another.

As I have loved you, you also must love one another. And this is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. And so, quite simply, we can't say that we love Jesus, but not actively love our family members, our neighbors, our coworkers, even our enemies, those who are on the other side politically of us, those who are on the other side of the border, those who look different from us. Jesus says, When he washes his disciples' feet, now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet.

I mean, that's hard, right? But we can't escape God's call to love one another in the season of Lent. So, my encouragement is for people, again, to turn to the Lord and in prayer ask, Who are you calling me to love?

Is there someone in my life that needs to experience your love through me? And as I reflected on this while I was writing the book, oh, Gary, that was such an uncomfortable prayer because I immediately knew who God was calling me to love. And this was a person who had hurt me, perhaps not intentionally, but there was baggage there. And I knew, I knew that God was calling me to love this person. And I sat down and I started praying and I said, Lord, I cannot do this in my own power. I mean, it's the kind of situation where we're just polar opposites of each other.

Like, this person walks into the room and it's hard for me to make eye contact for them. And I'm thinking, How? How am I going to love this person? And what I realized was, as I brought, again, my own brokenness and insufficiency and inadequacies to God, I asked him, Would you fill me up with your love? I know that I can't muster up enough love for this person. As I'm studying Jesus and his love in the Gospels, would you just pour it into my life so that it flows in me and through me for this person?

And, Yuri, I actually sat down with a copy of "The 5 Love Languages" and I thought, What are practical ways for each of the love languages that I can show this person love? And so one day I brought them coffee, just because. And one day, instead of turning away in the room, I gave them a hug. It was hard.

It was so hard. I didn't want to, but it was an act of obedience. Another day, I wrote a thank you note to thank this person for the things that they have done for me and my family. It was obedience.

I didn't feel like it. But I was asking God, Would you teach me to love by pouring your love in me and through me? And what was surprising was that as we approached Easter, these acts of obedience thawed my heart and I began feeling love for this person. And we came to Resurrection Sunday and it was one of the most glorious experiences because it felt like love had been reborn in my heart. As we entered into Holy Week and Good Friday and Jesus' death and burial, there was a sense of my grudge against this person is being buried. And Easter Sunday comes and love for this person is being resurrected. And that is nothing short of a miracle. But that is the heart of Lent. The sacrificial love, not just giving something up so that we would lose weight or that we would save money or that we would earn God's favor, but rather being buried with Him and being resurrected by the Holy Spirit's power into lives where we love. This is the heart of following Jesus.

That's powerful. I'm sure there are listeners who are hearing what you just said. And in their own heart, God's already brought somebody to their mind that hurt them deeply in the past. And they're thinking, oh Lord, I know I should, but I don't know that I can.

But I like the answer. You said to God, I can't, I can't, but you can. And I can be the instrument. And the Scriptures say the love of God is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. And when we ask for that, He will give us the power to do just that. That's powerful. Well, Esherita, let's talk a bit about the children and how do you help children experience the realities we've been talking about in celebrating Lent.

And maybe what have you done with your own children? Yeah, so this is maybe one of my favorite parts with the book is that each week, at the beginning of the week, there's a family celebration guide. As I mentioned, Sundays are meant to be celebratory, even during Lent. And the devotions are set up, very easy to follow for those who feel like, I can't do devotions with my kids.

These are very simple and yet they provide structure to your time together around God's Word. And each week someone asks, why did Jesus die? And each week we reflect on a different reason for His death. Jesus died to bring us into a right relationship with God. Jesus died in order to defeat death and bring us to resurrection life with Him. Jesus died to disarm the powers of sin and death and the devil. I mean, these are truths that we want our children to learn and to know, but without an intentional way of teaching it to them, it can just be easy for one year to blend into another until they leave our homes and we realize, do they truly know Jesus and why He died for them and why it's such a beautiful, beautiful picture of God's love.

So that's one thing. At the beginning of each week, there are these family celebration guides and then there are five devotions that walk readers through different ways that Jesus' love was poured out toward the people that He interacted with. And then at the end of each week are these family activities, practical hands-on ways to learn about Jesus, but also some creative ways, like I said, about fasting. So maybe during the duration of Lent as a family, you invite everyone to join you in giving up.

Maybe it's your favorite drinks, your morning mocha, or maybe it's that sweet tea or Dr. Pepper that you have in the afternoon. But whatever it is that you turn to aside from water, maybe you give that up. And with the money that you save as a family, you put it into a jar and over the course of Lent, you pray, Lord, who can we bless with this money that we're saving? Maybe you are sponsoring a child and writing to them and that becomes a way of pouring out love. Or maybe you go to the local soup kitchen and not only do you give that money that you saved up, but you actually serve with your own hands and feet, bringing the love of Jesus to those people.

So that's one practical way to maybe fast in a different way. I also have all kinds of crafts and hands-on activities, especially for younger children. My kids are ages six, four, and one and a half.

So I have little, little ones. And sometimes it's hard to think, how do we talk about these big concepts and maybe some of the scary parts, right? Jesus was crucified.

He was beaten. It's hard sometimes to think, how do I introduce my children to the reality of what Jesus did in a way that is age-appropriate for them? And what I found really helpful is to actually journey through the Old Testament, just hitting certain highlights, and then talking about how Jesus fulfills that. So last year, my children and I read the Passover story, the story of the plagues in Egypt, and then that last plague, how the angel of death would come and kill the firstborn of every family. But the families that would take a lamb, a perfect spotless lamb, and kill that lamb, and then put the blood of that lamb on their doorposts, those families would be protected and saved.

And the angel of death would pass over their homes. And as we talked about that, I had printed out shapes of sheep, and we traced that sheep on just simple cardboard paper. And as I was reading the story, I had them wound white yarn around these cardboard lambs. So it was giving them something to do hands-on, but it also provided them a visual representation of this lamb. And then we got to the end of the story, and I said, you know, the Bible tells us that Jesus is the perfect, spotless Lamb of God. And He was the one who was killed for us. And because of His blood, God's wrath and His anger and His punishment passes over us, and we are protected.

And we know that one day the Lamb of God will sit on a throne, and He will reign forever because He came back to life. And that was simple enough that my, at the time, three-year-old and five-year-old could understand and also picture some of these realities. So the book is filled with activities like that that are hands-on and that help children and teenagers and young adults all enter into the practice of Lent, focusing on the great, great love of Jesus.

I love those ideas. I can just see children experiencing that. So we're in a busy world. As we said earlier, everybody's going, going. So what does this season of Lent have to offer to the busy, stressed-out Christian who's listening to us today? Oh, if that's where you are, then that is the perfect place to enter into a season of Lent. Again, this is not an obligation.

It's not something else to add to your to-do list. This is God's invitation to you to slow down and, as we said at the beginning of the program, to remember. Remember who God is. Remember how He loves you. Remember your own sinfulness and the frailty of being human. Remember Jesus' love and His death and His resurrection. And this remembrance doesn't have to take a long time.

I think sometimes we get intimidated because we think, oh, I don't have time for this. And yet I would say just five minutes, if you set aside five minutes each day to read through these gospel stories and the ways that Jesus interacted with people and showed them love, meditate on that story throughout the day when you're driving or you're folding laundry or, I don't know, you're walking the dog. Bring back to mind those stories and then ask God to change your heart, to soften your heart, to pour His love in your life and through you toward others. And I think you'll be surprised that the more time you spend reflecting on the love of Jesus, the more time you want to spend with Him. And it will slow down your life to this rhythm and this cadence that is life-giving as we turn to Jesus and we celebrate His love.

Well, Esarita, this conversation has been very stimulating and I know not only to me but to many of our listeners. And I think this book is going to help anyone who really would like to make the most of the Lenten season. So thanks for being with us today and thanks for the journey of a year of walking with Jesus in order to write this book. So may God use it. That's my desire to touch the lives of a lot of other people.

And I know that's your heart. Thank you again for having me. It's been my joy to be here with you and what a joy to talk about the love of Jesus.

I mean, there's no better topic than that. If you'd like to find out more about that resource that we've talked about today, you can go to the website fivelovelanguages.com. Again, the title is Uncovering the Love of Jesus, A Lent Devotional, written by Asherina Chuchu, C-I-U.

C-I-U is how you spell her last name. Again, fivelovelanguages.com. And if you'd like the Lenten Family Activity Guide, just text the word love to 33777. Again, L-O-V-E to 33777. And next week, questions from our listener line.

That's right. It's our first Leap Year Dear Gary broadcast. Don't miss the answers and hope in one week. Our thanks today to our production team, Steve Wick and Janice Todd, as well as Doug Hayner at Moody Radio Cleveland. Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman is a production of Moody Radio in association with Moody Publishers, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute. Thanks for listening.