Has the world made you feel care-worn? It can tarnish faith, darken perspectives and color thoughts, emotions and decisions. Life can be hard. But what I usually mean is that my life can be hard. I’m the first to feel it when I’m being mistreated or inconvenienced. I’m quick to sulk when I’m the one who feels deprived or unappreciated. When life is difficult for us, we notice. =)
But too often the only way we notice that life is hard for others is when they start complaining about it. Hearing it, we’re often thinking they just have a bad attitude. The pain & pressure they feel don’t register like it does when it’s our pain. When I want to complain, everyone should understand and feel sorry for me, right?
Yet, this doesn’t happen when God’s love is at work. Love doesn’t have to be jarred awake to another’s distress. As Love sees obvious signs of worry & trouble, Love has already gone into action mode. It see the weight beginning to build up and steps in to help.
Love makes sacrifices. It keeps us in tune to another’s need and so that we often can respond without being asked. And should I not notice ahead of time & must be told, Love responds to the heart of the problem. (Not that I always do, but Love does!) Even when another’s stress comes out in words of personal accusation, Love shows compassion rather than becoming defensive, by Jesus’ example.
That’s what Jesus did. “He laid down His life for us” to show us that “we should also lay down our lives” for others. He taught us that the evidence of love is found in seeing a need in others and then doing what we can to satisfy it:
For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat;
I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink;
I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me;
I was sick, and you visited Me;
I was in prison, and you came to Me.
- Matthew 25 : 35-36
Instead of sitting around feeling upset that others are not treating us the way we think they should, let Love pick us up out of our self-pity and turn our attention to their needs. The words, “How can I help?” should stay fresh on Christian lips. The solutions may be easy or they may be complex, requiring time, energy and great effort. Either way, as we help others, we are helping ourselves, too. The Spirit moves us beyond our “flesh” and into community. That is the beautiful part of sacrifice. Jesus did it for us. And He extends the grace to do it for others.
When the New Testament believers began to walk in love, their lives together were marked by sharing and sacrifice. Their heartbeat was to worship the Lord an to serve His people. (Acts 2:44-45)
