To Write Love On Their Arms

Just yesterday I was talking to one of my friends who told me she was majorly struggling and yet she felt like no one was helping her. She said she talked to her church and even her best friends. And that they told her to pray more and that things would get better soon.

And she told me that it felt like no one saw her needs. Like she was drowning and crying out for help, but all she got was empty words from people she thought she could trust.

It's hard to be that lifeline when someone is down. I think it's almost impossible to even see each others' true needs and care if we are not personally connected to Christ and focused. There's just too many distractions, too many personal struggles, it's often not that we don't want to help others. But we don't know how, or we are not ready when the time comes..

So often we resort to some sappy Christian words because it's easier than investing in other people.

Pray about it. Take it to Jesus.

It will be ok. This too will pass.

Or even I'll pray for you.

While there's nothing wrong with these words, I think so often our friends feel alone. They need assurance that I care enough to pray with them. That I love them enough to stop what I'm doing and help them. That I will just listen to them and love them through the pain.

And that's so hard. But we have too if we are going to reach people, if we truly want to be like Jesus we have to invest.

Just this week I met a girl who tried to commit suicide. She was young and had so much potential, but I could tell she didn't understand her identity or worth. And in my head, I wanted to have a great conversation with her. Not asking her Why so much, but trying to show her that she is loved. I wanted to somehow connect and show her that she is so beautiful and worth so much to Christ.

But the opportunity just never happened. The day was busy and went by quickly. And I don't know if I will see this girl again. It really saddens me.

It makes me think about the way we have to live if we want to be aware of others' needs and truly loving them. We have to be focused on God or it's so easy to miss seeing others' needs and be a blessing.

1 John 3:18 says Dear children, let us not love with words or deeds but with actions and in truth.

I constantly am discovering how poor I am at loving others. I say the wrong things; I offend people. I focus on myself instead of putting others' needs first and God convicts my heart. So often we have false ideas of what it means to love, but every time we encounter Christ- I think He teaches us how to love better. The Christ who died from our sins who has wounds on his hands and feet, writes love on our hearts and our foreheads. And when we are filled from the inside out with his love, we finally have love that we too can write on our brothers' and sisters.

May we encounter the love Jesus has for us- may he fill our hearts with a new kind of love- and may it overflow to the people around us. That we would be pure lights even when darkness surrounds us. That we would have courage to love better and deeper with our hearts.