If You Love Me You'll...

“Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ‘All this I will give You,’ he said, ‘if You will bow down and worship me.’

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’”                  Matthew 4:8-10

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2

Ah, LOVE…the subject of epics, ballads, sonnets and poems…the one thing that reduces us to melted butter and yet inspires us to greatness. 

The Bible tells us that love is patient, kind, humble, content, unselfish, forgiving, trusting, protective, hopeful, persistent, loyal, joyful, consistent and excellent.

We each have circumstances in our lives that confuse us about the loving course to take. Do we confront our husband who has been spending more time at work than at home; or is unaffectionate and demanding? Do we speak to our friend who seems to be more interested in her neighbor than in her own husband? How do we respond when an unbelieving coworker tells a dirty joke and a believing coworker laughs at it? What about society, or even family members, who put you down because you’re a Christian?

I do not claim to have it all together in this department. I do not think I am wise in this area. In fact, these are areas I have struggled with at one time or another. All I know for sure is what the Bible says and that it’s the best standard to live by. Although the saying “What Would Jesus Do?” has been trivialized today, it is still the best question to ask in situations such as these.

In Matthew 4, satan tempted Jesus by offering to give Jesus the whole world if Jesus would worship him. Jesus actually wanted the whole world (it wouldn’t be a temptation if He didn’t want it.) He wanted to save us and spend eternity with us. If Jesus had taken satan up on his offer, He wouldn’t have had to confront anyone; or suffer ostracizing from his family; or the ridicule of society; or bear the horrible pain of our sin. It would have been much easier for Him.

Sometimes I’m tempted to go the easy way – the way that makes me, and them, feel better. I don’t want my husband to feel more stress; I don’t want my friendship to end; I don’t want my coworkers to not like me; I don’t want to appear judgmental or prudish or intolerant to my family (who knew me ‘before’.)

In these situations the first, most loving thing I can do is to remember that I don’t have to have an immediate response. It’s usually better to let the situation cool off first. Calm down, pray it through; if necessary, talk it over with someone wiser, or at least more objective. When I do this, I can remind myself that here on earth things won’t ever be perfect and that there are some things I just can’t fix and/or its not my job to fix; that I can’t ever change another person; that things are not always what they seem; and that people are complicated.

The next step is to examine my heart. Do I have any ulterior motives for confrontation? Do I want my husband to help me more around the house because I’m lazy or resentful? Do I want to hurt my friend because she hurt me? Am I afraid of retaliation at work if I speak up? In my family, do I stand up for what’s right and face rejection or do I want personal acceptance more? Is this more about me and my ‘rights’ or about the highest call of showing Jesus' love to people?

Then, I have to ask myself another hard question:

What is best, in the long run, for this person? What would Jesus do? I can tell you that Jesus would not take the easy way, the convenient way, or the most ‘peaceful’ way. He would take the most loving way. The way of sacrifice – the way of love.

It takes courage and wisdom to love. God is wisdom and courage and God is love. Love is deliberate. Love is steadfast. Love is...well...love.