Sometimes you don’t know what will happen when you lay your heart bare.
When you love deeply. Sincerely.
What happens when love takes courage? Do we shut the door of our hearts to protect ourselves? Or do we instead let our roots grow deep into the love of Christ, and press forward, continuing with tenderness and affection for those who don’t seem to return or even deserve it?
It can be hard to bear patiently with the unkind, but what other alternative do we have? If we become bitter, it defiles many. If we refuse to forgive, our own sins won’t be forgiven. If we retaliate, we are no better than those who were unkind to us.
But there is a better way – His – because if we love like He does, we receive His grace, and in that moment are choosing to obey Him. He said that those who accept His commandments and obey them are the ones who love Him. And because they love Him, His Father will love them. And He will love them and reveal Himself to each of them. (John 14:21) So we see the path of bitterness and unforgiveness is unimaginable, because it means we are displaying that we don’t love Him. It means He won’t reveal Himself to us. Oh the pain of that reality! Oh the pain of living without our beautiful Jesus making Himself known to our hearts.
So we love deeply, sincerely, anyway, even in the face of rejection, loss, or pain.
When love takes courage, we rise to the challenge, because we know our reward is Jesus (Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Mighty God, Wonderful Counselor, Bright and Morning Star, the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls, spotless Lamb of God Who took our punishment upon Himself!). Our reward is Him!
We let the trials cause us to seek Him more earnestly, the rejection move us further into the reality of His unconditional love, and the suffering allow us to identify with the Suffering Servant Who embraced the Roman whipping post for our healing, Who let Himself endure the torment of a Roman crucifixion and three days in hell (but only three!) for our salvation. Isn’t He worth a greater humility, a more fervent prayer life, an absolute trust in His leadership, and mercy unto others as He has shown unto us?
Since He forgives, we forgive. Since He shows mercy, we show mercy. Since He doesn’t remind us of our sins, we remind no one of the past mistakes of others, especially those who have been washed, not in our blood, but in His. Who are we to decide if someone is unworthy of His sacrifice? It’s His blood! The scars are in His hands, not ours. If He wants to love the whole world, then let us also love them. If He wants them to know what He did for them, then let us tell them. If He desires all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, oh then let us have that same desire, and let it burn within us!
If He forgives those that sin against Him, then we will do the same. For we are not greater than He is. Let Him be God over every part of our lives, and He will give us beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for a spirit of heaviness.
Though we don’t know how our open hearts will be received by others, we can be assured that He will give us grace to keep them open and to remain sincere, for we have as our source a never-ending fountain of love! Let us love then without fear, for perfect love casts away fear. When we need wisdom, let us ask Him. Peace, let us ask Him. Patience, let us ask Him. If we ask, we WILL recieve! So let us boldly love others, trusting the outcome to Jesus.
For we know that “nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:13-16)
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