The end of my journey on the World Race is coming to a close. After almost 11 months of traveling, home is in sight. There have been an incredible number of blessings and special moments along the way and being this close to the end has made me take time to think about some of those things. I was reading back through some things I had written earlier in the Race and stumbled across one I decided would be good to share with you all. I hope you enjoy.
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Hey God.
What does it look like to love dangerously? To love with daring?
I think you’ve been calling me to that for a while, probably my whole life actually. That’s the way you created us after all. We were created to love like you and your love is daring. Your love is not dependent on what you get back.
How do you do it? That’s so hard for me. And scary too.
Why does it scare me? Is it because I recognize my need for love and I’m afraid if I give love and don’t receive any back that I won’t have love? Because frankly that’s ridiculous. I will always have your love. No matter what.
And I believe in the love of the people around me as well. I have to be ok with the fact that not everyone will love me. The light is not appealing to those who live in the dark and I bring light with me.
So help me God. Help me change my mindset. Let me see people as you see them. People to be loved, not people to get love from.
Love comes first and greatest from you. I know that. Help me to know that. Show me how to love dangerously.
Really, show me how to love more like you. Because you are the ultimate, the perfect example of love. Show me what unconditional love looks like. And then help me to do it.
Help me stay focused on you and let my love come from your love for me. That the love I have for others would be merely the splashes of what you have for me. That my love would flow from the abundance of yours.
Open my eyes and my ears to show me how love works. How it was designed. Because you designed it perfect. You designed it to be daring. You designed us to be loved. You designed us to love.
By loving others better will I love you better? And vice versa, will loving you better help me to love others better? Because I want both. It would make sense why these are the two greatest commandments. They go hand in hand. They are symbiotic. Just like you and me.
Sort of.
That’s actually not even true though. Really, our relationship is more parasitic. You give us our very life and we offer nothing that you need because you need nothing.
How can this work for you? Why did you choose us?
I don’t understand and I don’t think I ever will.
But I am grateful.
I’m grateful for grace that is greater than I can know. Because that’s what I need. It’s through grace that you give us everything because we certainly haven’t earned anything.
Everything we have is a gift from you. Including love.
And if you could give us all those things, why can’t we do the same?
We love because you first loved us. We forgive because you first forgave. Everything we do should be in response to you. Not to other people, but to you.
So I am not responding to love or to the potential of love from other people that I may receive in the future. I am responding to the love that has already been lavished on me.
The love that died on a cross. The love that conquered death. The love that intercedes for me. The love that changed everything.
That is how to love with daring.
To fix my eyes on how dearly you love me and know that nothing can ever diminish that. Not even pouring out love on other people.
So I’m ready to love with daring.
I’m ready to love dangerously.
