Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
John 15:13 NKJV
When the horrible, terrible, no-good very bad thing happened in my life, I shut myself off from the world. Not in the literal sense; I still had work, and still had to function as a normal human being most of the time.
But all I really wanted was to live like a hermit, alone and unbothered by anyone or anything, so that I could suffer by myself. I wanted to deteriorate and die alone in my room. It was actually in my prayers.
For some reason, the mental and emotional abuse I experienced led me to thinking that I deserved to be treated the way I was being treated. Not true of course, but that’s what it felt like.
When I finally started reaching out to people, it was a revelation. I’m a very bright person, but this has always been my blind spot. I find it hard to reach out to others for help, or even just for the relief of unburdening and talking it out.
With every conversation came a fresh new insight. With every discussion, I felt lighter.
I experienced being part of God’s community once again. God’s love was made tangible for me. I saw it, felt it, heard it, spent time with it, had walks with it, ran with it, had coffee with it, ate meals with it, and had ten thousand words with it. His healing came not just as a vague Biblical concept, but as medicines and food and groceries delivered straight to my door. His wisdom came not just as pithy aphorisms, but in the form of time spent in careful dissections of the situation and the people involved, discourses that lasted for hours and allowed me to pour out my grief and organize my thoughts at the same time.
These people showed what it meant to have a covenanted relationship with God, and therefore have the capacity to have that same committed relationship with others.
This is faithfulness to the Word of God. This is truthfulness in word and in deed. This is the love of God activated in the world and translated in the language of men.
If everyone had even just one friend that will show them this kind of love, then there will surely be heaven on earth.
