Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. ~Romans 12:14
San Juan del Sur! photocred Laren Lewis! 🙂
A few days ago, team Mighty Love enjoyed one of our off days in San Juan del Sur, a sweet little beach town on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua. That morning we planned to take the public bus from Rivas to San Juan and we wanted to ride these fun little bicycle carriages that carried people around the town before we went. Several people from the team double checked with the drivers on the price as we climbed in, then we enjoyed a leisurely ride to the market to catch the bus.
After several bumps and some precarious turns we pulled into the central marketplace where huge school buses waited to depart to various cities in Rivas. Vibrant colors and patterns had replaced traditional orangeish-yellow and the revamped buses looked more like they were ready for a car show. The sides were covered in painted flames and patterns and slogans. Heavy bass pumped through the open windows only adding to the energy in the atmosphere.
I continued to take in the sights of the Rivas marketplace when I noticed that our team was still standing in the middle of the street. Even though we had gotten out of the bike trollys, we still weren’t moving. Several from our group were talking to the drivers and I began to feel an awkward tension. In unison the 3 drivers had upped their prices and were causing a scene.
We regrouped as frustration started to lace the voices of my teammates who were directly involved with the drivers. The injustice was apparent, but there was not much else we could do, and the drivers knew it.
In Guatemala we had run into the same problem, where taxis and merchants inflated their prices because we looked like tourists (and kind of are, haha), but usually we would just decline and walk away. It was annoying to be trapped into the deal since they had already carried us across town.
In that moment I turned my irritation at the situation towards destroying the devil and I asked to pray for our driver. With the money he had swindled still in his hand, he gave me his other hand and I blessed him. I prayed for his family and business and health and thanked God for his life. And I meant it.
The wisdom of the world says only love when it’s easy. When it feels good. When it’s reciprocated. But is that real love? I don’t think so. That sounds more like selfishness.
“Love is patient.
Love is kind.
It does not envy.
It does not boast.
It is not proud.
It does not dishonor others.
It is not self seeking.
It is not easily angered.
It keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.
It always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Real love never fails.
Real love is God’s love towards us and His love through us. He is the source and the definition. A radical love with no strings attached. Love without expectations or conditions.
His love destroys fear.
His love annihilates performance.
It brings healing.
It brings hope.
His love never fails, it never gives up, it never runs out.
Halfway through this month, the Lord told me,
"You fight for the people you love. But also fight for the people you don't."
It was very thing I had been struggling with all month. How do you fight for someone when they are treating you badly? How do you fight for someone when it isn’t gratifying? When it requires self sacrifice? You die to yourself and put them first. You love without expecting anything in return. That’s real love. That’s God’s love.
This wasn't something I wanted to hear, but I needed to.
I had been practicing conditional love. Towards my teammates, our hosts, random people we met on the streets. But Jesus has called me to a higher standard. And now His Spirit enables me to love like He does. Unconditionally. So that’s what I press into; and I look more and more like Him every single day 🙂
“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14 (ESV)
Be blessed!
