In Revelation 21:8 the Bible named the "cowards" among those who will suffer the second death 😲. What is a coward? According to the online dictionary, " a coward is a person who lacks the courage to do or endure dangerous or unpleasant things." Love is one of those dangerous and unpleasant things. We are living in a selfish, individualistic world and to love in such a world is a very dangerous undertaking. Love by definition expose us to great suffering. A heartbreak, a betrayal can be more severe than a gunshot or a wound by a sword. So as a result many people flee away from love so they can feel safe, the coward way of life .
Loving others is hard, dangerous and can be a very unpleasant experience at times. Many Christians realised it . But as Christians we have a major problem. What problem is that ? Jesus, our Savior commanded us to love each other as He has loved us, He commanded us to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us and despitefully use us 😥. We have a major problem, we want to obey our Lord and yet we don't want to expose ourselves to the pain, the hurt that comes with loving others unconditionally. So we come up with a stone that will strike two birds at once, we say haha, "I got it!" From now on, "I will love others from afar." I will obey Christ and spare myself hurt at the same time.
We think we have finally solved the dangerous dilemma of love ❤ in a dangerous and selfish world. We think we have finally outsmart the Lord. We will love those who are "toxic, unlovable, difficult etc.. but from afar. And so we separate ourselves from anyone whom we have differences with. At the first sign of difficulty in a friendship, a relationship, we flee to protect our little hearts from getting hurt, to protect our " mental health." And yet we deceive ourselves into thinking we are following the Lord Jesus. Deceive ourselves into thinking we are on our way to heaven, when the truth is we are simply displaying our cowardice, our fear of love .
And so we watch as many friendships, many relationships, many ministries, many churches are broken apart because of cowardice. People claimed to love each other, but the moment difficult times come, they flee like "rats from a sinking ship" 🐀 to avoid being hurt. Instead of reaching out to the other person and have difficult conversations, unpleasant conversations and do all in their powers to restore the broken relationship, they say " I will spare myself the suffering that comes with reconciliation and I will love them from afar. " "There, I am a good Christian and I am marching to Zion, the beautiful city of God. " Hyppocrites and cowards are they. For it is easy to love from afar.
It is easy to love from afar. Any weakling and coward can love others from afar. But to love like Jesus requires us coming near to others and to love them despite their flaws, to love them despite their coldness, betrayals etc.. It is easy to love those who live outside your home than those living with you. It is easy to love those outside of your church than those you call brothers and sisters. You know why ? Because there is no intimacy. Those who are closest to you are able to hurt you the most. The closer the intimacy, the more vulnerable you are and so many of us understanding that we are cowards, flee from such close fellowship using deceitful statements such as " loving from afar."
How do I know personally that God loves me ? I know Jesus loves me because no matter how sinful I am He still loves me. I know Jesus loves me because I have failed Him many times and yet He still reach out to me. I know Jesus loves me because He is always doing what is necessary to bring reconciliation between me and Him. I know Jesus loves me because He has not loved me from "afar" but has come very near to me and say " let us reason together," let us make peace with each other and let walk together. This is how I know Jesus loves me. The way He treats me when I am undeserving, unfaithful, and He remain faithful, loving. This is what it means to love like Jesus.
Love shines the brightest in difficult times. Love shines the brightest when we have disagreements and irreconcilable differences. Love is revealed in the way we treat those we don't see eye to eye with. If my brother has something against me, I reveal my love to him by going out of my way to reach out to him and make peace with him. If that doesn't work, I take someone else with me to speak with my brother to bring reconciliation. If that doesn't I continue to pray for the Lord to help me and my brother do what is right. I keep praying for the Lord to give me the strength to love my brother like Jesus loves me and sacrificed His life for me.
Love is difficult, love is hard. Everyone want to be loved but only a few are willing to endure the dangerous and unpleasant path to show true love to others. To love others require Divine strength, it requires constant dependence upon the Lord Jesus. To love others require bravery, to draw near to others knowing that they may not respond to your love but still seeking whats good for them. The coward is fearful, lacks the courage to do endure dangerous or unpleasant things. The coward will never experience the joy of loving like Jesus does, for the end of the coward is the lake of fire 🔥. God has not called us to be cowards, but to be brave soldiers .
The coward loves from a far, but let us ask God for the courage and strength to love from near, to love others despite their betrayals, persecution, toxicity, to love others despite their wrongs toward us. Let us ask God to help us to be loving and lovable Christian. A Christian who so love others that he is willing to lay down his life for them. Let us God for the strength to love like He does, for only the strong can experience true love, while cowards hide and dream about love. Let us go forward in the strength of the Lord and the power of His might and reveal God's persevering love to others . Lord help me to love others from near like you do 🙏🏾
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