Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Learning to Love Like Jesus

Amanda Cook sings a song that is called "Pieces".   It grips my heart when I hear it, because I believe not only is it the way God loves us, but how we are to love Him and others.  His commandment to 'love Him with all your heart, soul and mind, and to love others as yourself' (Matt 22:37) comes alive for me in these lyrics.  They provoke me to want to live more intentionally and more unreservedly towards Him and towards others.  To offer my whole heart - not just pieces of it.

Unreserved, unrestrained
Your love is wild, Your love is wild for me
It isn’t shy, it’s unashamed 
Your love is proud to be seen with me
You don’t give Your heart in pieces 
You don’t hide Yourself to tease us 

Uncontrolled, un-contained 
Your love is a fire burning bright for me
It’s not just a spark, it’s not just a flame 
Your love is a light, that all the world will see 
You don’t give Your heart in pieces 
You don’t hide Yourself to tease us 

Your love’s not fractured
It’s not a troubled mind
It isn’t anxious, it’s not the restless kind
Your love’s not passive
It’s never disengaged
It’s always present
It hangs on every word we say
Love keeps its promises, it keeps its word
It honors what’s sacred, cause its vows are good
Your love’s not broken
It’s not insecure
Your love’s not selfish, Your love is pure
'Cause You don’t give Your heart in pieces 
You don’t hide Yourself to tease us 

As I hear this song, I am made aware of how God offers His whole heart to us.  He holds nothing back.    It is this faithful, trustworthy love that reaches deep into our own hearts, beckoning us to come close.  I want to love this fully and fearlessly.  I want to realize that because of being connected heart-to-heart with Him, I can begin to love this way, too.  I want to be so fully convinced by His love, that it's my automatic response to love Him and others in the same way.  "We love because God first loved us." (1 John 4:19).

Community is all around us, and yet so many of us fail to take part.  We fear rejection or hurt, and so we end up living isolated as a way of self-protecting.  And yes, some people have and will mishandle our hearts.  It is inevitable that we will experience this in a broken world.  But that is why we look to Jesus as the example.  He gave His whole heart to the will of His Father and for us on the cross.  He cried out forgiveness over us as He did so.  His forgiveness, like His love, is complete.  And He beckons us to live in this same way, living in this same kind of love He revealed.

We needed His whole heart.  We needed His forgiveness.  We needed to witness a heart fully awake to God and fully awake to us.  Now that we have, what will we do?

I thank You Lord for teaching my heart to trust and move toward relationship - with You and with people.  Thank You for showing me what it looks like in Your Word and even in the songs You inspire in Your people.  Continue to teach me to pursue, to engage, to be transparent.  Show me how worthwhile it is.  Show me the people out there who need to witness this kind of love.  Equip and empower me to reveal Your love to hurting hearts, so that they will turn to You, fascinated by Your glory and goodness.

https://youtu.be/P0FW--zidYA

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