“Love like you have never been hurt”
Someone recently sent me an email that included the statement above…it really stuck to my brain and got me thinking on the subject of love. Has our idea and definition of love become so eschewed that we no longer really know what it is? Do we just view love as an emotion for the sappy and hopeless romantics? The sad thing…there are a good number of men and women who feel that showing love is actually a sign of weakness.
But love is such an amazing and powerful force – it can have the strength of worlds, and also be so fragile that a few harsh words or even one action can break its bonds in a mere moment. But yet, it can also only take one word (or act) to restore those broken pieces as whole again. Yes, love really is wondrous. And it does make the world go ‘round. It makes God who He is, and is what bridges us to our Abba Father.
And as for being weak? To love is to be rather strong and courageous. I believe one of the bravest decisions you can ever make in your life is to love. That takes a lot of guts, because it’s not just romantic love either – but compassion for anyone who may cross your path (lovely and unlovely alike). Contrary to what some may believe, Love is neither blind nor naïve about the darker side of humanity; it just chooses to see the best in all people, and to chase away that darkness with its light. That kind of love can only come from Jesus.
The second bravest thing you can do is to be able to love the person staring back at you from the bathroom mirror each morning. When Jesus said that we had to love our neighbor as ourselves, he had no idea what he was asking of us. It seems easy enough…loving yourself, right? Except that many times we can be our own worst judge and lover – because we can never seem to forget our wrongs.
I think this is one of the reasons why God made it so simple and easy to repent…because he knew it was in our nature to make the forgiveness process within ourselves so difficult and drawn-out. We can find it so easy to love everyone else in the world ten times over, but we struggle and often fall short when it comes to loving ourselves. Thing is, what Jesus did on the cross can not have as much meaning for you as long as you refuse to love yourself.
Jesus loved every side and shade of mankind enough to die for us. He was not dragged and yanked onto that cross either; he went willingly because he knew what was at stake…that is some powerful love. He chose to love us like we had never and would never hurt Him. We not only have to be willing to love others with all courage (like no one has ever broken your heart), we must love ourselves in the same manner…just like Jesus.
Pen in Motion 