01 Feb True Love is Dangerous – Feb 12

by Yosia Yusuf

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” – John 13:34-35

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will certainly be wronged and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it in tact, you must never give your heart to anyone, not even to an animal!” C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis is not saying not to love at all but to make a point that to love is dangerous and risky. Because of it, many people are in self protected mode in order to suppress the risk and pain that come with love. We are afraid to give love because we are afraid of being taken advantage of. Everyone have the tendency to look out for themselves. We refuse to give in to others as we are afraid of being taken advantage of. Kathy Keller said that the default mode of the human heart is self-justification.

But this is the freedom that Jesus has to offer. The gospel tells us that when we embrace the gospel, we are free to love others because our deep longing for love has been met by Christ’s perfect love for us. In Christ we received all the love we need and it enables us to love others without needing anything from them in return. We get love from God so we can give love to others!

This is the only way we can love our enemies. We are afraid of loving our enemies because we are afraid of being taken advantage of. But when we realize that our deep longing for love has been fully satisfied in the person of Christ, now we can love our enemies without fear that it will not be reciprocated. The gospel reminds us that in Christ we already have all the love we ever need so that we can love others without fear. Now we are free to live our life in self-sacrifice mode. Our love to others is no longer about receiving, but giving. We find everything we need in Jesus, and not others.

“The simple fact is that only if I love Jesus more than other will I be able to serve other needs ahead of my own. Only if my emotional tank is filled with love from God will I be able to be patient, faithful, tender, and open with other when things are not going well in life or in relationship. And the more joy I get from my relationship with Christ, the more I can share that joy with other” (Meaning of Marriage by Timothy Keller, my rephrase).