LOVE…
I am terrified that we have missed it.
I am afraid that we have forgotten what this looks like. We have forgotten how to feel it. And as a result we have forgotten how to show it. Really show it. The way Christ does.
If you think I am wrong, look at those that surround you. Have you loved them? Have you showed them you loved them? Do they even know that you love them? Do you know what is going on in their lives? Have you even asked?
Look at the people you don’t know. The person driving in the car next to you, or in front of you in line at Starbucks. Do they know they are loved? Do you love them even though you don’t know them? Have you thought about getting to know them? Does it even cross your mind?
What about you? Do you love yourself? Really truly. Can you say that you do? Or are you disgusted? Do you hide yourself because you are ashamed? It’s okay if you do, you are not the first. Nor will you be the last.
Here is my fear.
I fear we have become so consumed by our own devices that we have failed to look up and see the broken. We have failed to see our own brokenness. We hide behind computer screens and the false status, and we have allowed ourselves to become asleep to everything else around us.
My fear is that you are the person who feels alone in a room full of people. Maybe the burden is so heavy that you can’t breathe. Maybe you are the one trapped in a room with no windows or doors. Do you feel loved? Has anyone even asked how you are doing and really actually meant it? Have I shown you love?
There are people so broken and so scarred around us that they are willing to take themselves completely out of the equation. Do we even care?
Brothers and Sisters, Friends and Family, let us not miss it!
Love is looking at someone and seeing them. It is seeing their passions and seeing their flaws. It is about investing in their lives and having conversations that are about more than just the weather. It is about being physically and mentally present. It is about meeting them where they are at no matter how high or how low. It is not about pointing fingers or placing blame but rather about encouragement and forgiveness. Love should not stem from fear but rather a longing and a desire for one another to be the best versions of ourselves. Love is being honest in a way that is sometimes difficult but sometimes necessary with ourselves and with others. Love is seeing someone at their lowest moments and recognizing that they are beautiful. Love is humble. It is giving without expecting to receive. Love is not easy, it does not just happen. We have to work at it we have to be intentional!!!
Why?
Because Christ first loved.
He saw our burdens. He saw our stains and our scars. He saw our baggage and our fears. He saw our solitude, our depravity and our brokenness. He saw us and knew every part of us, and He didn’t walk away. He should have. He could have. BUT HE DIDN’T. No instead He put Himself on a cross and carried our burdens, acquired our scars, and put to death all that destroys us. Covered ourselves with Him and called us His own. And oh what a love it is. How complete a love it is. A love that gives us peace and joy even when life is going in every wrong direction.
This is how we are to love people! And if they don’t understand than we point them to the cross and say, “look! I didn’t deserve it either, but it was given to me and because of that love I can love you, and because of that love I want to love you! Its that love that I want you to experience!”
It is my plea that we drop the rocks that we want to throw at people, that we swallow our fear of talking to people we don’t know, that we turn off our phones and computers and see people. See that they were created in the image of God and that they need to be loved the way that Christ loved!
Unconditionally.
