Don’t just pretend to
love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is
good. Love each other with genuine affection, and
take delight in honoring each other.
—Romans 12:9 NLT
Lord, I am at a place I
have never been, and never will be again. This day is like no other.
Opportunities will come today that will never come on another day. Today is a
landmark in my life—where your heart either stirs me to love others or where I
sit self-satisfied in my own little world.
“I love you,” God
whispers, “even though you often cheapen my grace with selfishness. My grace is
all about you. I gave everything for you to know my love. For you to discover
faith in the midst of fear. For you to discover joy in the midst of pain. For
you to understand that because my love is all about you, your love is all about
others.”
Yes, Jesus, your love is about
me. My love should be all about others. You gave everything for me. My love
should honor your sacrifice, and help the needs, hurts, and pain of others. My
life is not about what I might want or think I need. It is not about my hurt
feelings, but about forgiveness. It is not about my pain, but it is about the
pain of someone else. It is in giving your love away that I discover the depth
of your love and healing for me. To honor the gift of your sacrifice and love,
I place myself in your hands. I will not just pretend to love. I will love what
is good, and stand for what you say is right. I will help others to realize the
potential you see in them, and to stir them to reach for the fulfillment they
can only find in you.
I want to reach beyond
myself. Break open my self-satisfied little world, Lord, and shake me up
so that I will grasp that nothing is about me. It is all about your love in me,
and the opportunity you bring today for me to share it. One day I will stand
before you, Jesus—my Savior—who gave everything for me. In that one moment the
love I gave on earth will face the love of God in its revealing clarity. It
will no longer be just a reflection. I will, in that moment, know if it was
enough.
© 2017 Lynn Lacher
www.lynnlacher.com/2018/07/beyond-myself.html
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