Expressed Through Love
For [ if we are ] in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but only faith activated and expressed and working through love.
Galatians 5:6 (AMP)
Love is the greatest expression of our faith - - Oh, to love like Jesus loves. That is such a tall order, apparently almost impossible to this girl. As believers the way we love shows the world the love of God, heavenly love, or at least should it not?
My dear friend Gabby recently shared with me she had unpacked something belonging to her precious son Giancarlo, who took his own life at age 26. She said it was time to unpack it and love it despite the hurt and the pain. Just hearing her verbalize this brought a sting to my eyes that came from the deepest place of my heart. Gabby has been learning to love his memories despite the hurt and pain. She loves Giancarlo deeply; I know this to be true because I witnessed her love.
Expressing love to someone with mental illness can be really hard sometimes, partially because of our own humanness and sin nature. (Romans 3:23) To love someone who suffers from mental illness is extraordinary but can be done with the help of the Holy Spirit. I have learned this probably because of the times I failed to rely on the Holy Spirit to express love.
Often when circumstances got hard during our challenges maneuvering through life with mental illness, I failed to love well. As I reflect back, my heart breaks when I realize how I failed to express love well to my loved ones. I missed opportunities to love deeper during really difficult times and that can never be regained. I recognize that failure stemmed from fear, hurt and abandonment, which is no excuse for failure.
To learn from our failures and even never repeat them is what we need to strive for and persevere with all our determination. We need to repair our failures and call on the Spirit of God for His help. Then observe others who express His love so well and learn from them.
Therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race that marked out for us.
Hebrews 12:1
