love beyond what others can justify

"Love beyond ways others can justify"- r. sexton

I love this quote. Heard it for the first time this week during a great sermon. The main question he asked was "Do you fear what God has intended for good?". He used the parable of the good samaritan. The first 2 men didn't stop. Didn't have the time of day. Maybe they were fearful or something like it - apathetic, worried about what others may say, following the societal norms. But the third guy crossed all these barriers and not only took the time to pay attention but to take him on his own donkey, get him to a safe place, pay for his accommodations and then come back and check on him.

He loved beyond what others could justify.

Me. I continue to lay down my life daily. That I am not here to be served but to serve. To love my God wholly. To love my husband. To love my kids. To love my friends and coworkers. To love the abandoned. The widowed. To love the lost and to love the very least of these.

I am learning that that there is a tug of war. That everything around me is counter to that. I want to do renos on my house. I want new clothes. We want to give our kids more things. I want the comforts of this life. In and of itself, these are not bad things. But when they take our eyes off of our call. Our call to serve and love as Christ has loved us. That is when there is dissonance. Like nails on a chalk board. It doesn't line up. Conflict.

Love beyond what other could justify.

Right now for me it is leaning hard into trusting God and the call He gave us to adopt an older child or children. People think we are a little crazy and we are - but it is what we are called to do at this moment in our lives.

What is it for you?


Blessings,
Candra