I have often struggled with the imposition that is Christian love;
a love so different from the love that is often exchanged in our world,
a love that asks us to give our lives away incrementally, or all at once…
What would we have and where would we be, had Christ turned away from His cross?
If His love was not sacrificial love, and had He not given His life away?
Instead, perhaps merely leaving us with a kind word, and a smile, and wishing us the best…
Is there a true love that won’t also require us to sacrifice ourselves?
This is a love that is risky, dangerous, and can expose us to losses;
literal losses of money, property, time, sleep—
and other essential, or superfluous pleasures.
Christian love is the prototype and embodiment of selflessness,
when practiced in its pure form, following in the steps of our namesake.
Worldly prudence has taught me to count the costs, weigh the risks,
and back away from any that cross the line, that are too costly.
Divine prudence teaches me to give more,
to extend this line further towards my neighbor, or erase the line altogether.
Experience has shown me that sacrificial love engenders a joyful bliss,
a type of euphoria, and a freedom that calls out from within me, wildly…
and rapturously,
when I am courageous enough to follow, and do this love—
the will of my Lord.
~FS
Prayerful Life 