Dirt Under the Fingernails
By Eric Hurtgen
"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: than to lay down one's life for one's friends."
John 15:12-13 TNIV
John 15:12-13 TNIV
THE STORY OF JESUS CHRIST is the true story of a love unlike any other. It is the story of a love immense and immeasurable, yet not afraid of coming down and getting messy, of getting a little dirt under the fingernails. The love we see in Jesus is a love that waits years for a broken friendship to be mended, saves the last bite for someone else and dances with the girl no one else would choose, the kind that smiles when spat upon. This love of Jesus is real and risky.
Unfortunately, the supposed love most of us experience is far from this radical, Jesus brand, rarely real, almost never risky. Usually, what we see passed off as love is either too abstract to be of help to anybody, or too selfish to be even remotely mistaken for the real thing. It often seems idle talk, more an ideal than a reality.
This risky love floods the stories of Jesus. It is the kind of love He lived out, the kind of love that risked insult and injury. If we want to really give and receive this Jesus kind of love, we must refuse to play it safe.
Unfortunately, the supposed love most of us experience is far from this radical, Jesus brand, rarely real, almost never risky. Usually, what we see passed off as love is either too abstract to be of help to anybody, or too selfish to be even remotely mistaken for the real thing. It often seems idle talk, more an ideal than a reality.
This risky love floods the stories of Jesus. It is the kind of love He lived out, the kind of love that risked insult and injury. If we want to really give and receive this Jesus kind of love, we must refuse to play it safe.
No comments:
Post a Comment