Love is Risky

“There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to be sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket—safe, dark, motionless, airless—it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable….The only place outside of Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.” C.S. Lewis

Next week Bethany and I will be sharing stories from Jesus’ life with 14 primary school teachers. We will be sharing how Jesus is compassionate, honest, he looks at the heart, he sees us for who we really are, he is humble, and dependent on his Father. We will look at how Christ loved others even when it was difficult, uncomfortable, or caused pain. As I prepare to teach and share next week, my own heart is being challenged. I have run into the above quote from C.S. Lewis in two different books I have been reading. At different times during our training we will be discussing love and how it can be difficult to love or even costly to love. As I examine my own heart I can see areas where I hold back or give up because I am fearful of where love may lead me.

C.S. Lewis says, “To love at all is to be vulnerable.” It is hard to be vulnerable and love family and friends when they are miles and miles away. It is hard to be vulnerable and to love through cultural and language barriers. It is hard to be vulnerable and love knowing that hellos and goodbyes never seem to end. It is hard to be vulnerable knowing it could mean showing all of who I am. And it is hard to love knowing chances are it may not always feel good. When I think about the difficulties and pains of love, I am tempted to just lock my heart up, but then I remember that even though love is not a ‘safe investment,’ Christ has invested in me. He suffered for me and loved me first and now asks me to love others. He knows love is not an easy thing for us and so offers his love and strength to live through us. Therefore, I choose to love.

“We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19