True Love Hurts

I’m a very literal person. My husband is not. For anyone who knows both of us, this isn’t a startling discovery. Due to this difference, there are occasions when Chris is coming up with statements or phrases that my literal personality doesn’t enjoy quite as much as his.Several months ago, as Chris was trying to communicate the importance of our mission at Highpoint (ie. to prove that love works), he made the statement, "If love doesn't work, it hurts." The literalist in me could disagree. By definition, I could make the case that if it hurts, it’s not actually love. (You can imagine this might cause some differing opinions over the years!)Recently, though, I had to retract my critique of his statement. You see, a member of our church body had been diagnosed with a serious illness a couple of years ago. At the time, we gathered around her and her husband and prayed. And then something went wrong.[bctt tweet="If love doesn't work, it hurts."]Somewhere along the way, the body of Christ that was supposed to be there to encourage and support them through this journey became silent. Oh yes, there were cards in the mail from the prayer team letting them know they were being prayed for, but the rest of the body wasn’t to be seen. They absolutely needed the prayers of their church family, but they also needed to see the body in action.No one meant any harm. No one meant to forget. A phone number that was a digit off kept some messages from being received. But all of a sudden, love wasn’t working... it was hurting.I think the only thing that may be more painful than not being loved is expecting love and not receiving it. If I take a step back, there’s always responsibility needed from everyone involved. If you don’t invest yourself and seek out relationships, it’s easy to disappear and have no one notice. It’s why we continually urge people to prioritize getting in a group and intentionally investing time with other believers. It’s hard for all of us to love someone we don't know. But that wasn’t the case this time. This couple was involved. They did serve.[bctt tweet="Love doesn’t happen by accident. Love requires us to be intentional and observant."]It was a reminder to me that love doesn’t happen by accident. Love requires us to be intentional and observant. It requires us to sacrifice a few minutes of our own time to reach out to someone else. It’s so easy to assume someone else has noticed or followed up. It’s so easy to move on… until you’re the one needing someone to care.In my next blog, I want to share a few observations that I hope will help each of us know how to care for those in the body who are depending on us to be the hands and feet of Christ.