Daring to Love

O LORD, who shall sojourn in Your tent?
    Who shall dwell on Your holy hill?
. . .
[He] who swears to his own hurt and does not change.
-Psalm 15:1, 4b

     Reading through Psalm fifteen several weeks ago I've especially been meditating on this part of verse four.  "Who swears to his own hurt and does not change."  Isn't that what Jesus did?  When He walked on this earth He committed to love those around Him.  He didn't love only when it was convenient but He also went out of His way to love.  Even when He was hurt by his closest friends/disciples He still loved them and He did not change.  He committed to love all of us by sacrificing Himself for our sins and becoming our Righteousness (Isaiah 61:10).  Even though we mocked Him upon that cross He still loved us.

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”-Luke 23:34a

      Jesus dared to love, even when He hurt from it.  He committed to love even when it hurt the most and He did not turn aside.  He submitted to the Father's will even in His own anguish and bore the entire wrath of God on our behalf.  Now He commissions us to love as He loves us.

"This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."-John 15:12

     Do I dare to love those whom God has placed in my life?  Do I commit to love family and friends even when I may hurt from it?  Do I stay true to my commitment though I may not feel like I can love them? 

     Ruth hurt a lot when she committed to love Naomi.  She was willing to become humiliated multiple times on behalf of offering Naomi a better life.  Through all of the heartache that Naomi and Ruth faced God blessed the acts of their selfless, hesed love in amazing ways.

     Hesed love: the kind of love that is loyal.

     Committing to love others isn't easy but in the power of Christ it is possible and the rewards are tremendous . . . whether gained in this life or beyond.

Give!  Give the love we have all received to those around you.  Give until it hurts, because real love hurts.  That is why you must love until it hurts.-Mother Teresa