Encouragement
There is something so pure about love…yet, so complex. It is all around, in the smallest of things, and sometimes, if you blink, you miss it. Sometimes, it seems as if love is lost in this world, but sometimes, you’ve just got to open your eyes to the world around you. Love is not always in the big and the obvious. Love is most often found in the littlest of things. It is found in those things that you just do not expect.
Several days ago, I took a trip to the park with some children from work. The day was nearly ending, and I was pushing a child on the swing. As I pushed her, she did not say a word; she was simply basking in the pleasure of swinging back and forth, feeling the cool breeze brush across her face. There was this moment of silence, where the world around us seemed to stop, and all we knew that existed was the wind blowing in our faces. It is a rare occurrence to have such a moment with a young child, but that just makes it all the more glorious. Even then, as I pushed the child on the swing, in such repetitive motion, with the wind blowing ever-so-gently across my face and the sun beaming its warmth down on me, I felt as if I was alone and at peace. It was in this peaceful moment that I began to look at the world around me. Suddenly, I saw people in isolated segments, all full of life and enjoying the beautiful day at the park. Next to me, there was a young boy playing on the slide with his parents. And, on the playground, there were children running around with each other. They were laughing and enjoying each other’s company. There were new friendships being made between children who had just met moments ago. At the same time, there was a young girl running through the grass by herself, as free as could be, enjoying the simple pleasures of nature that surrounded her. There is something so beautiful about the way that young children love. The way they love their parents so unconditionally, as if they could do nothing wrong. The way that they make friendships so easily, as if there are no judgments or prerequisites for those friendships. The way they love the simple pleasures in life, like running around in circles through the grass, just enjoying the sunshine. There is something so beautiful about living so carefree and loving so freely. There is something so beautiful about loving only the way a child can love.
After all of this, I took a moment and breathed in a breath of the fresh air, and then I noticed something else. I noticed my children from work. They were not at the park with their parents. They were not at the park with their best friends. They were not running through the grass enjoying the simple pleasures of life. Most of these children do not know that kind of love; the kinds of love where they get to spend time with their parents, their best friends, and enjoy life. They have such hardships, like none I would ever want to be able to relate to, but they still long for that kind of love. Many of them cannot find that love in their relationships with their parents because they do not have relationships with their parents. They do not know how to love their friends or the simple pleasures of life because they have never learned how to love. But, all of them yearn to be loved. Suddenly, my heart was overwhelmed with love for these children. I have grown to love these children from the day I met them, but in that moment, my heart was broken and moved to love them more. And, as I thought this, I noticed one of my coworkers, playing with some of the most hard to love children I have ever met. My coworker was just as drained and worn out from the long day of work as I was, yet he decided to get up from his comfortable, restful spot on the bench to play with a child who was in need of his love. It was such a simple moment, but such a beautiful one. It was love in its purest form, a child-like love, given to a child, who was desperately searching for it. The child did not need some big moment, where someone donated his family enough money to buy a new house to get them out of poverty, or someone bought him a brand new wardrobe, so that he had more than two outfits, or did some other extravagant act for him. It was not a large hug or smile, or even telling the child that he loved him. No, it was much better, it was the simple act of spending time with him and playing a game with him, even though he was so tired he did not want to move another inch. It was a little act of sacrifice that showed that child a world of love; love like he has probably never known.
And, all of this got me thinking about the love of Christ. Jesus said that they would know that we are His disciples by our love. But, how do we truly show people the love of Christ? Yes, we can do something extravagant and overwhelming to show people His love, but most times, those extravagant things are not really necessary. If we just love others with the love of a child, in the simplest of ways, we can show them true love. People do not need our stuff, they just need us. They need us to love them in the way that Christ loved us. They need some sacrificial acts, the giving of ourselves, which take up a little bit of our time, but leave a large impact on their lives. Love does not always have to appear to be something big and complex. Love can be seen in the simple love of a child, and in the simple things we do for others to show them that they matter. The truth is that we need to love more, but we also need to open our eyes and see that the opportunities to love are all around us, if we would just take some time to notice them. True love is so simple, yet so necessary to the lives of all people. Could you imagine what the world would be like if all of us Christians just opened our eyes and used the simple opportunities we were given to love all people? True love can change the world, so why don’t we just go out and do it?
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