To love is to risk. To care is to be vulnerable. As human beings in this world, it is inevitable to not cross one another the wrong way. Offense happens all the time. Loving others gets harder and harder when the offense only snowballs into a force of instantaneous assumptions and judgments.
She looked at me the wrong way. He does not take me seriously. They think they are better than us. Our church is better. Their church is bigger. We are better.
These stories somehow play in our minds naturally dictating the capacity and blindly filtering our ability to love others.
God, the Love of this world, is beckoning us to love more fearlessly.
Loving fearlessly takes many forms for each individual. We are the only ones that know what we are afraid of; we are the ones that know what holds us back, the risks that we hide from in order to protect our hearts.
Loving fearlessly can be strengthening someone by being an anchor and support.
Loving fearlessly can be serving others by being a bridge that gets them closer to where they need to be.
Only you know what is a risk and a fear: strengthening or serving.
We cannot hide behind brutal honesty or mindless service.
I can honestly say that I can mindlessly serve others at times because I am afraid of conflict. I feel that strengthening others with honesty is more of a risk. Others find it easier to offer brutal honesty without bringing their hearts into the conversation. Swinging too far on either side of this pendulum is loving with fear and not beyond risk.
“Fear paralyzes and holds captive what love longs to release into motion. For whether or not we realize it, love and risk are intimately connected...Fearless love is not based on the performance of a person but on the loving faithfulness of God...To love is to be vulnerable. ”
Only you know what is more of a risk. Fearless Love is calling us out of our comfort, safety, and walls.
We are called to be anchors and bridges - strengthening and serving others with fearless love.