By Stephanie Fisk
Real love hurts. Incarnational ministry is “uncomfortable.” Serving is a lifestyle.
So, if loving is serving and living where you are serving is loving – is it always going to hurt and be uncomfortable? Maybe? Maybe not? Does it need to hurt and be uncomfortable to be a sacrifice?
Jesus was a living sacrifice. His love hurt. He was crucified.
God made himself manifest. He chose to live amongst those he served. Incarnate love. Was he comfortable?
What was His motivation? Ironically, Love, the very thing that cost Him his life.
But is anything else worth living for?
Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22: 37-39
The Lord wants all of each of us. Our entire being to love His entire Being. To offer our lives as a living sacrifice. To spend ourselves on behalf of the needy, the sick, the widow, the orphan – His entire Being.
His entire Being – His body is you and me. It’s the person sitting next to you – it’s our neighbor. ‘ Love your neighbor as yourself.’
How can I love my neighbor as myself if I do not know my neighbor? By loving, God calls us to reach out and serve. Like Jesus, I believe that He calls us to live with and manifest His presence in and amongst those we are serving.
That may not be the most comfortable life. It might require the greatest sacrifice of all. But Jesus didn’t hold back, and He even tells us that ‘ you will do greater things than I.’
Stephanie Fisk is a traveler of the world and co-founder of a stateside servant mission called Latreia, which you can learn more about here.