Catherine Jessup

Hi! My name is Catherine Jessup, and I was raised in a household where I learned to love. I have two younger siblings, so showing love to them every day was a difficult task in and of itself. Not only did my parents teach me to love just my siblings, they taught me how to love others around me as well. I always wondered why my parents put such a big emphasis on loving. It wasn’t until I was about ten years old until I finally realized what loving others was all about.

I vividly remember sitting on the couch with my brother and sister one Sunday afternoon. My parents sat on the couch while my brother, sister, and I sat on the floor. They started to read a story from the bible. The story was about Jesus, who died on the cross for sinners like me. Jesus, God in flesh, came to earth to die the most painful death known to man, so that people who trusted him could have eternal life. I heard every word that my parents were saying, yet my brain couldn’t wrap itself around the thought of an innocent man dying for people like me.

Once I understood why where Jesus’ motivation came from, everything that I had ever learned started to make sense. Jesus died out of His love for us. He loved us so much that He couldn’t imagine life without us. I ought to love because I was loved by love himself. Because of the love that was displayed on the cross, I have decided to devote my life to loving the man who died for me, and loving His people as well.