Love's Price Tag

I don't think I can really love unless I recognize what it will cost.

Genuine love is a selfless, giving, and reaching-out thing.  I can sit with arms crossed against me, hands closed, unwilling to let my guard down, unwilling to risk all.

That's safe.

It's also empty, lifeless, and lonely.

When I choose to love, I choose to give myself.  I choose to be open and vulnerable.

I open myself up to the sadness of goodbyes and the sting of betrayal.  To the messes and the brokenness of people, imperfect like me.

It means I hurt when they're hurting.  It means I reach out and meet them where they're at, even if it's not where I'm at.  It means I welcome them in to my life, even if it may not be at a convenient time for me.  It means I live with open hands, freely giving just as I have freely received from my Heavenly Father.  It means I come alongside them, admitting my own stumbling and accepting theirs.

It's a hefty price tag.

Sometimes I may be tempted to wonder if it's really worth it.  As scary as it is, I'm learning that yes, this kind of loving - this kind of living - is worth it.

As we give, He fills us again to overflowing.  As we move towards others, He redeems the brokenness and makes it beautiful.  It's only by embracing both the lovely and the messy, by loving fully and freely, that we can experience the abundant life Jesus came to bring us.

I want to live that life.  I want to love like He did.  Like He does.