Turn my something normal into something beautiful

The title is part of the lyrics in Jars of Clay's "Something Beautiful". And I hope what I have to share with you guys will resonate, for it is what I believe and hope for always -that my something normal can be transformed by Him into something beautiful.

What Is Love?

What is love if not sacrifice,

Not some measure of unselfishness-

And yet we feel that love is exclusive

guard our affections and the affections

we think to have -

a child with it's teddy bear.

What does it take to give up

that mindset of sparingness

of stinginess

of always having to be the only beloved?

Is it not enough to see hands and feet, drilled for you-

a head, thorn-stabbed for you;

a side, pierced for you?

What does it feel like

to kneel at the foot of the cross and weep?

Amazed at the boundless love

That did the impossible

for you

and at the same time,

for everyone who has ever lived.

The wonder!

His grace is by no means divided, apportioned

to each follower, like birthday cake

But is offered fresh, whole, unlimited

to all who believe.

What would it mean for us to grasp the truth,

(the essential truth)

that we love not to receive.

It is love

to throw away the accounts book,

to stop keeping tabs on kindnesses,

to willingly forget that hurtful remark.

That only by loving without conditions,

loving when it hurts,

loving when ignored,

loving when less favoured,

loving when it goes unseen and unappreciated-

Can we come close to reflecting His love

to a broken person

to a broken world

that needs

to know Him.

-T. P.