Sunday, July 28, 2013 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia
"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
I've heard the more you give love, the more capacity you have to love. Loving is a self-sustaining process. I believe this to be true, much like the competitors in the annual July 4th Hot Dog Eating Contest on Coney Island train for the contest by stretching their stomachs and, thus, their capacity to eat hot dogs quickly. We give love in order that we can love bigger.
This has proven itself to be very true in my life. It seems that the wider spread my love goes, the wider my capacity to love becomes. I now have pieces of my heart in the North America, Africa, and Asia, and I feel like I have so much more love to give. My heart is overflowing, almost to a literal sense! I want to show love to every person I see!
But, the funny thing about love is, it often requires a conscious choice. Often it is not the natural response. Scars can inhibit us from giving love because we are afraid it will not be handled with care. Loving is vulnerable.
God created us to love. Our entire being is meant to give Him honor and glory. He commands us, out of that honor and glory, to build disciples of all nations. Choose to love. Choose to be vulnerable.
The possibility of a wrung or broken heart can be terrifying, especially to those with scars from past hurts. To those with particularly sensitive hearts, loving is a great risk. But the beauty of pure, uninhibited love is being willing to have your heart mangled in the process of showing others who Jesus is. We can be confident that in such obedience, God, the Ultimate Healer, will heal any resulting scabs or bruises and make our hearts more complete than they were to begin with.
I've heard the more you give love, the more capacity you have to love. Loving is a self-sustaining process. I believe this to be true, much like the competitors in the annual July 4th Hot Dog Eating Contest on Coney Island train for the contest by stretching their stomachs and, thus, their capacity to eat hot dogs quickly. We give love in order that we can love bigger.
This has proven itself to be very true in my life. It seems that the wider spread my love goes, the wider my capacity to love becomes. I now have pieces of my heart in the North America, Africa, and Asia, and I feel like I have so much more love to give. My heart is overflowing, almost to a literal sense! I want to show love to every person I see!
But, the funny thing about love is, it often requires a conscious choice. Often it is not the natural response. Scars can inhibit us from giving love because we are afraid it will not be handled with care. Loving is vulnerable.
In his book The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis said, "To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable."Believe me- locking your heart in a safe is no way to live. I've tried it. It removes the very purpose God created us for. And without purpose, we have nothing to live for. If we refuse to be vulnerable enough to love others and, instead, lock our heart away in a dark casket, nothing we say carries weight any longer.
God created us to love. Our entire being is meant to give Him honor and glory. He commands us, out of that honor and glory, to build disciples of all nations. Choose to love. Choose to be vulnerable.
The possibility of a wrung or broken heart can be terrifying, especially to those with scars from past hurts. To those with particularly sensitive hearts, loving is a great risk. But the beauty of pure, uninhibited love is being willing to have your heart mangled in the process of showing others who Jesus is. We can be confident that in such obedience, God, the Ultimate Healer, will heal any resulting scabs or bruises and make our hearts more complete than they were to begin with.
No comments:
Post a Comment