Does Real Love Have a Line...?!?!

  My pastor once sent me a quote by Timothy Keller that I ended up saving to my phone for over a year.  The quote went something like this...

 

"all life-changing love is substitutionary sacrifice.

 If you love a person whose life is all put together and has no major needs,

it costs you nothing...But if you ever try to love somebody who has needs,

someone who is in trouble or who is persecuted or emotionally wounded,

it’s going to cost you. You can’t love them without taking a hit yourself.

A transfer of some kind is required, so that somehow their troubles,

 their problems, transfer to you."

 

  I was reminded of this quote tonight after a conversation I had with one of my friends on Skype today.   She was telling me about a situation

she is struggling with involving one of her other friends and she asked out loud where a person is suppose to drawl the line between loving

others  and standing up for yourself  against their abuse.  I didn't really have any answers for her...as I myself get it wrong more times than I 

get it right....but I heard myself tell her that maybe there is no line.  I mean obviously you need to use wisdom, but maybe it's less about a line

and more about how to be most loving.  When you think about it that's how Jesus treated us when he went to the cross.  He did the most loving

thing on earth by "taking the hit himself" in order to pay for our abuses.  There was no line for Him....He went all the way for us!  And if He's

our example then maybe we are suppose to do the same for others.

 

  Now believe me I know it's not all that simple....I think about women being abused by their spouses or friends and families dealing with the

actions of addicts....and I know it's not all that black and white (nothing in life ever is).  But I can't help but wonder if we spent more time

asking ourselves what it looks like  to really LOVE one another, would we really even worry about a line any more?!  A line suggests some

kind of defense mechanism,a way to protect ourselves.  But maybe real love is walking in the humility that places others above ourselves and

says I won't give up, even when it hurts, because it's not all about me.  And maybe real LOVE is wrapped up in denying ourselves and taking up our

cross daily, since it was in fact on the cross that the greatest act of loved was ever shown!