Guest Author: Grace Jensen

The choice to love a person despite their wounds- that has always been a no brainer for me. Seeing people exactly where they are and loving them through it, walking with them in the mess. The choice of loving that person has always been easy. But what has not been easy is the patience required, the unknown outcomes, and the hurt that I inevitably encounter. 

They say you fall in love, but I think it’s less of a fall and more of a jump. Falling might indicate that this action was accidental, but jumping acknowledges intention, grabbing hold of a choice to love another. 

And love. The way I love isn’t passive. I didn’t fall. I jumped. I chose. I chose this. I wanted this. I want this. I didn’t fall. I jumped – step by step I took little jumps, stumbling in between the steps, unsure of the outcome but still choosing. And the risky part is that there is someone on the other end- who has a full choice. And what a terrifyingly beautiful thing that is. To love. And to choose it. To take it by what it is and what it could be and move forward with the uncertainty of this gift not being returned.

But is it really a gift if we expect it back? We don’t and we shouldn’t give gifts to receive them back. A gift, by its very nature, is free. Freely and unconditionally given. Free to be received and free to be refused. And, that. That is an invitation to despair or hope. An invitation to despair if your gift isn’t received because that must mean something is wrong with you and your worth and dignity.  Or an invitation to hope in the intangible intentionality that encompasses you. To have hope in something greater than ourselves. Because love is a hope-filled mystery that is freely given and freely chosen. And that is a gift. Not contingent on receiving it back, regardless of the hurt it may cause. It’s that simple.

When there is a choice to run or to be still, the choice will be easy, filled with effort – but simple, if that choice is out of selfless love for the other person. Allowing yourself to be a total self-gift for someone else. That choice is easy. But the execution, the process is messy- the uncertainty and the way that you can’t control it, all while believing that it would be ideal to control it, is not easy. The mystery of love is what allows us to hope, to thrive, to pour out in others. It gives us the opportunity to be color in a seemingly black and white world. 

Feelings are fleeting, my love. I hope that your choice is easy and clear — and challenging in execution. And that it is all out of pure love. A love that is risky and requires vulnerability and one that is worth it for a great gift, a full gift. Because you, you are worth it. 

So, I hope that when the opportunity to run or be still presents itself, that you draw in deep, deep into the well that has sustained your every breath- and that you choose to be still out of the love that we are created by, created in and created for, created to pour out into others. After all, we only miss the water when the well runs dry.

Love is a person. One of wisdom and of grace. Persevere in the certainty that you will be okay. 

Love is patient, love is kind. Love is intentional. Love is simple, regardless of the complexities. Love is a choice.

And you. I hope that you have the courage to choose it for yourself. Regardless of the walls you have put up, regardless of the fear and brokenness that you carry.

Pay attention to the ones who pull life out of you and pour back into you, those very people are closely connected to your purpose. 

We can change each moment with a lot of love and a lot of intentionality. So I hope that you chose to take risks, to be bold, and to love intentionally. Assuring yourself that you will be hurt, but knowing that the pain from not experiencing love at all is far greater than the one of loving. 

Beloved, be bold. Because there is no fear in love. Know that. Understand that. And live the way you were created. Relational down to the depths of your being, created to love and to be loved individually. I hope you take that risk.

You are worth the risk.