Love 101

The past two weeks have been somewhat heart breaking.  Three good friends are all struggling with really hard, life-altering, issues.  It's a heavy load for me, I and only know of their pain and spend a small fraction of the week with them.

I've been reflecting on Jesus' command in the Gospel of John "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."  Not something you can read lightly, given how much Christ has done to love us.  Reading it for what it is, He's saying here: give up your comfort, your wealth, your rights, your time.  Give it all up for the sake of another.

Thank God, He is faithful to forgive us.  For I can do some of these things some of the time, but I certainly cannot love as Christ did.  My body is not strong enough to endure--nor is my sinful heart willing enough.

The beauty of this passage (and my saving grace) is that we are not alone.  The Holy Spirit has so much to do with my love.  As I said, I neither have the will nor the energy to love in this manner.  More than that, the Spirit brings joy through sacrificial love.  We understand more of who Christ is, and we see His grace and mercy and redemption at work as we walk alongside others.

But the Spirit is not our only help.  Jesus is not speaking to individuals.  He's instructing a group of disciples.  He has just washed the whole groups' feet and now starts this speech with "my children."  So, Jesus is not commanding just me to love these people, but an entire community.  He's calling out to the Church, His body, His extension here on earth.  He knew we couldn't do it on our own, so He reminded us to do it as a group.

This is one of those things that I'm most grateful and excited for when it comes to marrying Hon.  Because he is one of the main pillars supporting and loving me (as Christ loved him), he is also loving those I love.  When faced with these heartbreaking stories in the lives of those close to me, Hon has stepped in to pray, to ask after (and that's huge if you know Hon's memory), to encourage and strengthen me as I pour out into them.

All that being said, I just want to shout out 3 prayer requests for these amazing people.  Please pray for..

• a friend of mine who's college-aged daughter is struggling to win the battle against depression.   
• another friend and her marriage that they could learn to love harder than they fight. 
• and for a friend whose body refuses to be healthy and whose doctors still have little to no answers.

Thanks for becoming part of that community of "loving as He loved" just by reading this.