Mtr Kelli Joyce

Friends in Christ,

"In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another."

I've been thinking a lot about love lately, as I've prepared to get married. This passage from 1 John points to one of the things I've come to believe most strongly about the topic.

Love is inseparable from our actions. John doesn't say "God loved us, and warmly wished us all the best as we tried to figure out that whole sin-and-death problem by ourselves." God's love, like all love, is seen best in choices, not feelings. I remember the first time I heard someone actually define love in a way that made sense to me - to love, in any form, is to choose to make yourself vulnerable in order to provide for and to protect the one who is loved. That's what God did - from the safety and glory of heaven, God chose to become a vulnerable human, to experience pain and sorrow and humiliation, in order that we might be healed. God's love shows in actions, and ours must as well.

This is how it's possible to love your enemies, as Jesus commanded. I might not be able to make myself like my enemies, but I can work to ensure that they have the things they need to be well, and that they're kept from harm's way. Loving an enemy doesn't mean being their friend, or trusting them - but it does mean giving up our vengeful desire to see them hurt.

Love like this is risky. Especially since we're commanded to love people who make us uncomfortable (no matter who it is that makes us uncomfortable - whether it's refugees and people without homes, or fundamentalist Christians and climate change deniers.) It's risky, and it can be counter-cultural, to love in this way, without distinction.

And that's precisely why we Christians must do it.

In peace,
Kelli