To quote the great film Moulin Rouge, "love is a many splendid thing, love lifts us up where we belong, all you need is love!" The voracity with which Christian (the male lead of the movie) exclaims this, right before launching into a wonderful medley of perfectly blended pop love songs, is quite convincing. I want to believe him. But it seems that the more we talk, discuss, argue, and fight over love in our culture today, the less these sentiments ring true.
I truly do believe that all we need is love. But not just any ordinary love. We need the love of Christ. Christ's love saves us, redeems us, justifies us, and frees us from the insufficiency of human love. I've been challenged lately to reflect on how this affects my day-to-day existence. Do I live like Jesus' love is real? Unfortunately, the honest answer to that is no a lot more than it is yes. There are times when I truly rest in His love, but more often I am living like I don't have an example of unconditional love to follow.
I think we are all aware that loving people is hard. People kinda stink sometimes. But the beauty of the gospel is that is doesn't discriminate based on how stinky we are. All people have the opportunity to experience the true love of Christ. If Christ can love everyone, even when we are all so unworthy of him, can't we as humans extend love to one another?
As much as our culture promotes the equality of love, I would be so bold to say that we are more talk than we are action. I, as a Christian, am not willing to settle for that assessment. I want to be revolutionary in the way I love - like Jesus was. We do have a perfect example of what it is like to love everyone without restraint and without prejudice: Jesus. THIS IS CRAZY HARD. But nobody ever said it was easy! God never said following him would be easy, but he did say that it would be worth it. I've been clinging to that truth recently.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16. I want to live like this makes a difference in how I love others. Since God first loved us, we can now love others accordingly. I'm not very good at this yet, but I'm counting on God to show me the ways I can improve and give me the strength to do so.
I hope you are encouraged to reflect on your own life of love, and seek God for ways to love others more!
<3 sarah elyse
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