Speaking Love Fluently Again: Lessons from the Cross

June 1, 2026

Imagine being James, the little brother of Jesus. As comedian Michael Jr. once quipped, little brothers follow their big brothers everywhere. One time, James almost drowned trying to keep up with Jesus, since that is what little brothers do, following their big brothers around. Can you picture Mary turning to James when he was misbehaving and saying, “James, what would Jesus do?” Or perhaps she was tempted to say, “James, can’t you be more like your brother?” Being part of Jesus’ earthly family could not have been easy, yet it gave James a front-row seat to perfect love lived out in human flesh.

In John 2, we see Jesus at a wedding in Cana. When His mother tells Him the wine has run out, Jesus responds, “Woman, why do you involve me? My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4). At first glance this sounds harsh, but the word “woman” (gunai in Greek) is a generic term. It carries neither special respect nor disrespect. Jesus used the same word when speaking to the Canaanite woman whose faith He praised (Matthew 15:28) and even to His own mother from the cross as He entrusted her care to John (John 19:26-27). In each case, Jesus spoke with clarity and purpose.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve spoke love as their native tongue. It was the only language they knew. They walked with God in perfect harmony. After the fall, that pure language fractured into many dialects. We began to struggle to speak love clearly. The Tower of Babel stands as a powerful symbol of this confusion. The people tried to build a tower to reach heaven by their own strength. Then God scattered the people, and confused their language.

Today, you can travel all over the world and see that people tried to build the Tower of Babel over and over again. There are dozens scattered across the globe. When I visited the Mayan ruins at Lamanai in Belize, I climbed a 108-foot ziggurat with over 200 steps. Standing at the top gave a feeling of power and control. It was the same feeling I had when I went up to the top floors of the Empire State Building. They are monuments to men’s power. Yet standing on a real mountain makes you feel small in comparison to the glory of God. Human attempts to reach heaven on our own terms always leads to confusion and separation.

On the cross, love was spoken as Jesus’ native tongue. Jesus hung on His cross in agony. He looked down and saw His mother and the disciple He loved. He said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother” (John 19:26-27). From that moment, John the beloved disciple, took Mary into his home. Even in His final hours, Jesus was caring for others and restoring relationships. Later we read that Mary and Jesus’ brothers joined the disciples in constant prayer (Acts 1:14). The family that once struggled to understand Him was now united in seeking God together.

Humility, forgiveness, and service are what allow us to speak love clearly in a world racked by sin, darkness, brokenness, and evil. If you want to speak the language of love more fluently, ask God to make you more humble, more forgiving, and more willing to serve. This happens as we read Scripture carefully, pray consistently, and confess our sins regularly. When you pray to be more forgiving, God will send someone who needs your forgiveness, or someone you have wronged that you need to ask forgiveness from. When you pray to be more loving, God will send someone who is difficult to love. As you become more like Jesus in these areas, the language of love will flow more naturally from your life.

Love was our native tongue in Eden. On the cross, Jesus spoke it perfectly, so we could learn it again. Ask God to help you speak love more clearly in your home, your workplace, and your church. Choose humility over pride. Choose forgiveness over bitterness. Choose service over selfishness. As you do, you will discover the joy of speaking the language that never fails, the language of love.

In what relationship do you most need to speak the language of love more clearly right now? When has God used a difficult person to teach you humility or forgiveness? How has your own “Tower of Babel” moment shown you the limits of self-effort? This week, what is one practical way you can show humble, forgiving, serving love to someone around you? Look especially at the relationships with difficult people. As you seek to heal those relationships God is glorified in our lives. (To learn more about Al Earley or read previous articles, see www.lagrangepres.org. You can purchase my book, My Faith Journal, at Amazon.com, a compilation of 366 articles as a daily devotional. Check out my podcast on YouTube, called “My Faith Journey”).