Loving Desperation
Those completely devoted to veritably loving others desperately plea and fervently grapple with the innermost limits of their hearts enduring strength to not rest until their neighbors, friends and adversaries alike are all joyfully apprehended by love, encouraged by kindness and blanketed with compassion. The truly devoted know and deeply understand that there is no greater passion, no greater calling, no worthier a quest, than to genuinely and wholeheartedly love those who move, laugh, cry, sing and live all around them every moment of every day.
In loving one another we surely choose to welcome each others joyful experiences as well as our painful, uncomfortable ones; willingly accepting the weight of certain tragedy into our lives, bearing each others burdens and sorrows together. Whether it be through tears or laughter is of no consequence for there is no more fulfilling a commitment to be made, and nothing gained or accumulated in a single lifetime, or in many, could ever surpass the lasting satisfaction that comes from a life totally centered upon and wholly surrendered to loving others regardless of any harsh, prefabricated dividing lines or boundaries which have subtly infiltrated our lives through a pervasive, influential and seemingly overwhelming culture bent on tilting us toward selfishness, cut-throat competition, and over consumption.
Sincerely loving people is the greatest and foremost calling we have on our lives. If we fail to love, than we have failed at everything. If we gain the entire world–obtain riches beyond imagination, acquire power above all other rulers, give everything we have to the poor, win the favor of multitudes, rid the world of poverty, provide clean drinking water to the thirsty, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, educate the uneducated, heal the sick, become famous–yet we have not nor have we ever shown true love, than we have gained nothing and sacrificed everything. To love, regardless of anything, is the greatest opportunity we will ever know.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not 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 have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. –I Corinthians 13:1-3
Cultivating a lifestyle of love in a world consumed by noise is not just a good way of living, it is the only way to ever truly live. Without love, life is but a fragment of what it was designed to be. All other pursuits are fleeting, here today and gone tomorrow, worthless in the face of eternity and the lasting remembrance of those whom you had the opportunity to impact with love but chose instead to pursue self serving ambition and dream.
How much longer will we conceal our love? For how much longer will we encapsulate our hearts, hiding our love away, saving it only for those whom we know will love us in return? We look the other way. We quiet our voices to a whisper. We shun the needs of others, and we cast away those who so desperately long for our attention and care. If we gain the entire world, yet we forfeit our souls, hold too tightly to our love, than we have lost everything. In this life, to gain or to lose, if it be without love, is merely an illusion, a trickery of the senses meant to shield us from freedom and disguise the needs of others as illegitimate. If they be outside of love, put down your petty pursuits and start anew. Begin a journey of freely loving others with all that you are and all that you have been given, for in the end nothing else will matter.
3 Comments
Great article. I think this speaks of our church culture as a whole. So much of Christianity today is Sunday-to-Sunday Christianity. I’ve walked out of services staring down at my belly button feeling down from a church service wondering why. I’m not down on the church, I’m just saying, what’s next? There is definitely a loud call, particularly for American Christians, to heed and be filled up and sent out. We can play a rocking worship set sometimes but if there is no love and nothing that comes as an overflow of that great time of worship, what are we doing this for in the first place. Sometimes I feel like God is saying, \Okay, I get you say you love me, no go show it.\
So much truth here. I really like that you say that life without love is only a fragment of what life is intended to be. But a life in pursuit of love is unpredictable, seeminly foolish, and unbelievably free. Thanks for this article.
@joshhoke I totally agree, Josh. Thanks for your comment. It’s so easy/comfortable to state a belief, but it’s highly difficult and many times uncomfortable to actually walk by faith, acting on our stated beliefs. However, loving action through faith is the most rewarding and fulfilling lifestyle, in my opinion.
@Michael Faithfully loving others is a foundational aspect of who we are as Jesus followers. But you’re right, just because we are called to constantly love, doesn’t guarantee us a life of predictability or comfort. Genuinely loving others can get us in some trouble. In the end, however, it’s all that matters. Thanks for your comment