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Many times I have the mental view of love at it’s prettiest and most appealing. I daydream of it when it’s easy, when the credits are rolling on the romantic comedy, the family is frozen in a snapshot of shared joy and laughter, or when the object of my affection seems to meet my every desire. This is the love held out to me as an example every time I turn around, but it isn't when love is truly powerful.
Love is awe inspiring in the hard times. When life isn’t the way it was supposed to be and love is a choice to bear, to believe, to hope, and to endure. When it doesn't feel good. This is when love is revolutionary. This is the love my friend shows fighting cancer alongside their spouse, or of a couple staying committed when they are living oceans apart, or of a leader who stays true to God and His mission to save the lost even when seemingly everyone rejects Him. This is real, everyday, beautiful love.
We all want to feel good. And we are told every day through advertisements and inspirational quotes that we should do more of whatever makes us feel good. Love is demonstrated most strongly when it doesn't feel good but we still make the decision to show love to another. This is the overwhelmingly painful and outrageous example Christ gave us when He chose the cross. He could have walked away. Actually, He could have chosen to never come into the midst of our mess. But He stepped willingly into pain and humiliation to show us the breadth and depth of real love.
Our commitment to love will be challenged frequently. Probably even today. We will experience moments when we will have to make a conscious and painful decision to choose it. With friends, family, and strangers. We’ll be asked to share the gospel when it’s uncomfortable, submit our preferences to someone else, or turn the other check. It’s imperative that we spend time with God receiving His all encompassing sacrificial love so we will have the power to give to others what He has give us. This is what our world truly needs; people who have been so well loved by the One who embraces us when we are unlovely that we can share this abundance with everyone we encounter. Let’s not just feel love, let’s live love.
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