20 Days Of Relational HealthSýnishorn

Scrolling through social media, I stopped at a post that broke my heart. A friend who lost her baby was sharing her grief online, asking for memories of her little one. As my chest tightened in pain for her, I looked at my reply options. I was confronted by a thumbs up, heart, sad face, or angry emoji. I couldn’t jump through my screen, throw my arms around her, and hold her while she cried. 

So I clicked the heart, left a note, and moved on. 

It felt shallow, not like the deep love of Jesus. 

In our flyby, online, texting, tweeting generation, it can be hard to remember what it looks like to love one another deeply. It makes me think of all the times the sick and hurting approached Jesus, aching to be healed. In those moments, Jesus stopped what He was doing, looked at the broken people, touched them, and stepped into their pain. Jesus loved others deeply. He calls us to do the same.

Oh, how I want to love my people with the strength the Lord provides. How could we change the world if we saw others in their hurt, heard their words without bias, met their needs without complaining, and responded with sincere love? Let’s ask Jesus to grow our hearts for those around us and give us opportunities and courage to love well.  

~ Andrea Chatelain