Weekend Talk: True love hurts

A lawyer wanted to know what the greatest commandment was.

Jesus told him, “First, love God; second, love your neighbour.”

Still not satisfied, the lawyer asked, “So who is my neighbour?”

In answer, Jesus told him the story of the Good Samaritan who risked his life to save someone who had been injured by robbers and left to die.

Do likewise!

“Go and do likewise,” Jesus told the lawyer, who was most likely not going to do likewise.

Doing likewise meant bringing himself into harm’s way for the sake of loving a neighbour.

We are able to do likewise only if we are willing to risk our life for love’s sake, and that is hurting.

The robbers could have been hiding in the bushes ready to pounce on whoever might help the injured person.

Understand that Jesus is the “Good Samaritan” who gave his life to rescue us from Satan the robber who injured us with sin and left us to die.

We cannot take the place of Christ to “die” for others to give them salvation; but by our sacrifice of love, we can “die” for others in order to help them.

In fact, to “love your neighbour as yourself” is a call to die, which is why love hurts.

An Akan proverb says, “Trees that are close are the ones that rub against each other.”

Rub here means scrape, squeeze, or irritate; and that hurts.

This proverb is often quoted to counsel quarrelling friends or lovers.

Love is deadly

Whenever love occurs, it can be deadly if not maturely handled.

Jealousy, an offshoot of love, has turned some lovers into murderers, causing them to languish in prison due to love that went amiss.

For example, in Greek mythology, the Trojan War between the Greeks and Troy was the result of a crooked love affair.

Falling headlong in love with Helen the Queen of Sparta (the king’s wife), Paris the Prince of Troy eloped with her.

The result was that bloody Greek-Troy war, leading to thousands of innocent soldiers perishing.

Again, William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, is a tragic love story about two teenagers who fall in love but cannot be together because their families are enemies.

Tragically, the two lovers ended up taking their own lives.

Love hurts and hurts badly.

That is why Solomon says, “Do not arouse love until it pleases” (Song of Solomon 3:5).

In other words, do not enter into a romantic relationship wrongly because it has serious consequences.

God in love

Love hurt the Creator of the universe.  After putting all there was into creating humans, the behaviour of people hurt God so much that he said, “I regret that I made man!” (Genesis 6:6).

God’s own tribe, the Israelites, caused him much pain when they deserted him and went prostituting after idols and other gods.

And when it was time to bring salvation to all humanity, God’s love for us caused him even more pain.

So, it was love for us, not the nails and the ropes, that kept the Lord Jesus on the cross.

True love hurts severely.

Another way to read John 3:16 is, “For God so loved the world that he killed his only Son for us.”

Or going deeper into the mystery of salvation, you could say, “For God so loved the world that he died for us.”

Whichever way you look at it, God’s love for humanity hurt him badly.

It hurt him when he watched his only begotten Son being flogged like a criminal.

It hurt him when he looked aside while the Roman soldiers drove rugged nails through his Son’s body.

And it hurt him when, because Jesus carried humanity’s sin, he had to look away from him.

And when the Son cried, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” it hurt God deeply.

Love is said to be blind because it covers a multitude of wrongdoing.

That is another reason why it hurts.

It hurts to forgive and foster a good relationship.

Imitating the Lord and his love for us, may we be urged to do likewise for others in demonstration of our love for the Lord.

Missions hurt

In the 1980s, Basel missionaries in Switzerland left the comfort zones of their homes and arrived in the Coast to spread Christianity.

The health conditions were so harsh that they all, except one, perished.

Constrained by their love for the Lord Jesus and missions, others followed them and served under serious health hazards.

All, except one, died.

Even then, others followed.

Their love for God’s work hurt, but they didn’t give up.

In our walk with God, true love constraints us, urging us to do what is right in order to know him and serve him better.

That is why it is love, not lust, that is capable of enduring life’s challenges.

The writer is a publisher, author, writer-trainer and CEO of Step Publishers.

E-mail: lawrence.darmani@gmail.com