Costly Love

Ruth

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

—1 John 3:16

A friend of mine recently told me how she woke up in the middle of the night a bit disoriented but aware enough to know that God had a reason. As she began to pray, God brought to mind a friend she was having trouble loving and fully accepting.

Tell her she is My daughter too, she felt God saying. If I love her, you can too.

We all have those people, don’t we? It’s easy to love those we like. But real love, the kind of love Jesus demonstrated, is giving your life to someone for their betterment. It is good will. Action. Not for our sake, but for someone else’s. It works, serves, endures, encourages, and forgives, all for the sake of seeing someone else grow and change for the better. It’s not always what we get out of a relationship, but rather how we show and give the love of God to someone else.

Isn’t this the way Jesus loves us? He loves us far more than we love Him back. He gives, and serves, and is patient with us. He works for our good, desiring to see lasting change that is marked by His Sprit at work in us. His love is costly. Sacrificial. Often one-sided. He is gentle with us, giving us room to grow up and be rooted in Him.

Loving those around us who are hard to love is impossible unless we anchor our lives in God’s love. If we don’t, we’ll always be looking for a friend, coworker, or family member to love us back. But when we are receiving our love from God, His love frees us and empowers us to love others unconditionally.

Who in your life is hard to love? Where do you need to love others the way God has loved you? Someone in your life needs to know she is God’s daughter too. Love her. Serve her. Accept her. Show her the kind of costly love Christ has shown you!

Father, thank You for loving me unconditionally through Your Son. It is a costly and sacrificial love that led You to the cross. I was undeserving, unworthy, but You have loved me anyway. Help me love those around me with the same love You have shown me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

How can you begin to love even if it is hard?

What is one way you can love someone for his or her sake and not your own?