Choose to Love
What is up party people?! Welcome to the blog. I wanna kick things off around here by talking about love. By changing the way I view love, my life has changed entirely. I am so thankful that Jesus demonstrated His love for me on the cross. He took on all of my sins, and yours too! He put them to death that day so I may have life and have it more abundantly. (John 10:10) But even more wonderfully, I get to live a life in relationship with Him through the Holy Spirit.
This love is so radical and it changes everything. It changes the way I view myself, the way I view others, and the way I interact with those around me. While it does change the way I view life, it doesn’t make it perfect. And Jesus’s blood does not make me perfect on this side of eternity, but it does make me a Child of God. And that is something to rejoice in.
Before I chose a life led by love, it was easy for me to store up bitterness in my heart. It was the first response for me to look out for myself. I found myself unable to enjoy the simple things of life. Throw in some major heartbreak and life not turning out how I thought and I found myself at a proverbial rock bottom. My heart was becoming stony and calloused.
I knew something had to change. I knew Jesus loved me and I knew I was saved. But I also knew there was so much more to me. I opened up my heart to Jesus and asked him to show me the parts of myself he wanted to refine. And boy did He answer. He has put so many people and circumstances in my life that have broken my heart in multiple ways. Through every trial, I have learned how to lean on God even more and to love others around me well.
And here is what I have learned about love: It. Is. A. Choice.
As unromantic as that sounds. I promise you it’s the truth. And we’re not talking about a Nicholas Cage or Hallmark movie kind of love here.
I am talking about loving your parents, your boss that is frustrating you. Your grumpy neighbor. That driver who cut you off. Your friend that is going through a hard time. Your coworkers. The mean girls at school. Your loved one who hurt you.
These are the people we are going to choose to love.
There are three circumstances I chose to start loving in.
Choosing to Love…
When I don’t feel like it.
When I don’t know what I’ll get in return
When it’s not convenient for me.
I am so glad Jesus’s life was an example of all three of these. We know that Christ demonstrates His love for us in this, while we were still sinners, He died for us. (Romans 5:8)
We also know that Jesus did not feel like dying on the cross for us. In one of his last days, He goes to the garden to pray and asks the Father to take “this cup” from Him. (You can go read this story in Mathew 26:36-46)
In the same way, I am called to love people even when I don’t feel like it. And honestly, there aren’t very many days where I wake up feeling excited to go love messy people in a messy world. Not in my own strength at least. That’s where I am thankful for the Holy Spirit and rely on Him to show me how to love those around me.
I also need to love people when I don’t know what I will get in return. It’s easy to love someone and treat them well when they have something to offer me. Like a ride in a nice new car, access to their pool, their netflix login. Maybe we are more inclined to love the person who offers us status or popularity instead of the person who has no friends and even less followers on social media. The Bible tells us to show no favoritism. (James 2:1-14) Jesus didn’t show favoritism. What did he have to gain from sitting with sinners and tax collectors and prostitutes? In Jewish religious culture, that was social suicide. But Jesus sees each person for who they are, not what they offer.
I challenge you to start looking at people that way. When I find roots of bitterness or jealousy starting to arise in my heart. I ask God to help me see that person through His eyes. Then I start to think about the things I love and value and admire about that person. Or I look for things that I have in common with him/her. When I do this, it becomes easy to see people as fellow children of God and co-heirs in Christ, even if they don’t know that for themselves yet.
And you know what’s terrifying about that??... I don’t know if I’ll be loved in return. I don’t know that I’ll be accepted or even respected. Which is why I have to make the choice to love that person before I know how they will treat me.
This leads me to my last point,
I must choose to love when it’s not convenient for me. Love is sacrifice. Again we have this example in Jesus Christ. It was not the most convenient option for the creator of the universe to come to the Earth as a baby, grow up, do ministry for a few years and suffer through death on a cross.
I think of the parables Jesus told a group of sinners in Luke 15. These are the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son. In the parable of the lost sheep, it was not convenient for the shepherd to drop everything and search for that one sheep, especially when he had so many other sheep. It was not convenient for the woman searching for her coin to overturn her house in search of one small coin. It was not convenient for the father of the prodigal son or anyone on the property to throw a party for a son who counted them as good as dead.
Jesus tells these stories to make a point. That his love knows no end. There’s no length he won’t go to to bring his children home to him. And as image bearers of Christ, how beautiful would it be if we loved others in this same way. Beyond convenience. I am not telling you to drop all boundaries and engage in toxic relationships. What I am encouraging, is a life that is willing to go beyond comfort to meet the needs of a Child of God for one moment.
I don’t know what that looks like for you. Maybe it’s living in less of a hurry so you have those few extra seconds to connect with someone and smile rather than rushing past them. Maybe it’s finding out someone’s love language and learning to love them how they feel loved. Maybe it’s a coffee date with an old friend. Maybe it’s paying for someone’s groceries. I am not here to tell you how to love, but to urge you to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and obey when you are prompted to love.
I hope you are encouraged to go out and love your little corner of the world in a way that reflects Jesus. If you’re feeling overwhelmed or like you could never love in that way, go seek out Jesus. Spend time worshipping Him, reading the Bible, and go hangout with some fellow believers. The amazing thing about seeking Jesus is that he has already found you! Just like the shepherd found the sheep and the woman found the coin.
Here are the parts of scripture this post was inspired by and if you need a place to start.
Matthew 26
James 2
Luke 15
Romans 5:8
Follow Bob Goff and read his book Everybody, Always. It really flipped a switch for me and I hope it does for you too! He tells so many inspiring stories of people he has loved in his life and what it means to meet people where they are at.
All my love,
Hailey