Sometimes Love Hurts

"Most assuredly, I say to you, 

one of you will betray Me"

John 13:21

Do you know the story of Corrie Ten Boom?  She was an amazing woman.  Well, an ordinary woman, who did extraordinary things, during a terrible time.  Corrie and her family lived in The Netherlands, and they secretly harbored Jews, and helped them escape when The Netherlands was occupied by the Nazis.   

photo credit: thegalleryofheroes.com

One day a man came to her saying he needed help hiding someone.  She helped, and the next day she and her family were arrested.  She spent almost a year in the concentration camp where her sister and father died.  She was betrayed by that stranger to whom she had shown love. 

How about William Tyndale; do you know who he was?  He was the first man to translate the Bible into English.  He’s probably largely responsible for that Bible you read.  Tyndale played a key role in making Scripture accessible to the English-speaking world.   

photo credit:  william-tyndale.com

He learned Hebrew and Greek, to understand idioms and expressions in those languages, and then wrote with the intent of bringing understanding to the common people.  In 1611, the scholars who created the King James version drew about 80% from Tyndale’s version. 

In 1536 Tyndale was strangled, and then burnt at the stake for heresy, and for unlicensed possession of Scripture.  He was betrayed by a friend of his.

I've been thinking, as I shared yesterday, about that commandment Jesus gave, to love as He loved.  He was only hours away from being betrayed when He gave that commandment.  And He had just finished washing Judas' feet.  

We sometimes think we have a "good" reason for not loving someone.  Maybe they don't "deserve" it.  Maybe it's just too much trouble, and we have a few needs of our own to take care of. 

The fact is, loving others is not easy.  As a friend of mine says about shepherding, sheep bite.   

But it's even worse than that.  When you love as Jesus loved, you will be betrayed.   And betrayal by someone you love, hurts.

It might even kill you.  

Probably not.  But it might. 

I guess that's why He made it a commandment, and not just a suggestion. 

~ "Love suffers long and is kind...

love bears all things, believes all things,

hopes all things, endures all things" ~

1 Corinthians 13:4

~