Love Until It Hurts

"Love until it hurts"? Really? Then what? Just stop loving when it hurts? Walk away when it gets too painful?

Imagine if Jesus had stopped loving when it hurt. If He just said, "Nope, this getting a little too painful. You're on your own. Adios!" But of course Jesus wouldn't do that. He's God and God is perfect love.

But what if Paul had given up loving when it started to hurt? What if, after he had been mocked, beaten, scourged, stoned, left for dead, imprisoned, and abandoned by most of his friends, he decided to just give up? What if he decided that these people weren't worth the pain, that the promise of heaven wasn't worth it? What then? Well for one, we would be missing half our New Testament. And how different would the world look? How many people did he lead to Christ? How many children and grandchildren did he have in the faith? How many people did he inspire to share the gospel? How many did he encourage to keep pressing on? If he had given up, how would history be changed?

But you're not Paul. You're not a world changer. You don't affect hundreds of people. You don't write letters to dozens of churches. You're just you.

Right?

No. God wants to use you to change the world. There are things God wants you to do. People He wants you to talk to. Lost people He wants you to bring home. Believers He wants you to encourage. And if you give up, you get tired of the rejection, you think it hurts too much to love, then you are denying the world the change it so desperately needs.

So love until it hurts. And then keep loving.