Above All Else Choose Love

Six months ago, one of my dearest cousins died in a car accident.  Her death changed my heart.  I feel pain more deeply.  I cry easier. I live knowing that life is fleeting.  I am aware of human suffering in a way I wasn't before. I catch myself looking at strangers and wanting to hear their story. I live with a gnawing feeling in my heart that I need to live my life differently. 

My cousin and I lived very different lives.  On the surface, it's easy to make conclusions on why our lives were different.  Why I went to church and she went to bars.  Why I filled my life with the spiritual and she filled hers with the temporal.   I chose never to form judgements in regards to her.  There was an unspoken understanding between us that did not allow for it.  I knew too much to judge her. 

For reasons I will never understand, life gave her more difficult crosses to bear than it gave to me.  In many ways, the paths she took and the doors she walked through chose her.   At the age of twelve, she was thrown into a world that was going at life-altering speeds. Most of her life was spent trying to catch up.  Sadly, she never did.  At least not in this life anyway.  

My one regret in regards to my cousin is not having put into words and action the reality of God's deep love and acceptance of her. I wish I would have talked to her about beauty and freedom.  About peace and new beginnings.  I wish I would have shared with her what it means, what it feels, to be reconciled to God. To live life without guilt, without striving to gain favor.  To live in the reality of acceptance, joy, and the most profound love. 

Moving forward, I want to live my life without regrets when it comes to sharing and living out the love of Christ.  As a regular church goer, it is easy for me to get caught up in the safety and comfort of my religious community. I don't want to live like this anymore.  I want to step out from behind church walls and walk into the lives of those who are struggling to see God and who have no one to show them.   I want to stop speaking of doctrines and start using all that I have to show love to those that are hurting.  I want God to use me as His vessel to shed glimpses of light into the hearts of those who are in darkness. I want love to lead me and teach me as I cross over into a world that is different than mine. I'm tired of defining myself by religion.  I want love to define me. 

This morning, I heard a scripture in the song by King and Country, The Proof of your Love, and felt it captured the heart of this post.  I want to share it with you:

"If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but 

don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. 

If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his 

mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have

faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't 

love, I'm nothing. 

If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake

 to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love,I've gotten nowhere. 

So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love."

(1 Corinthians 13:1-7, The Message)

I am praying that God will show me how to rearrange my life so that I can learn to love well.  There is no higher calling than to love those that are forgotten among us.  I want to challenge you to come before the Lord and ask Him how you can impact your corner of the world.  How can you show love to others? No strings attached.  What cause has God placed on your heart?  If you want to read an inspiring story about how a group of friends decided to spread love to others, click here.   I read this story over the weekend and was inspired!  I hope you enjoy it too.  

Blessings!