LOVE IS COSTLY

Richard Beck writes, “According to theologian Arthur McGill, when we tell others and ourselves to practice a life of love we often fail to point out the consequences of love. Love is costly. McGill explains:
[The love which is proclaimed in many churches] carefully disregards the outcome of love. These churches speak of love as helping others, but they ignore what helping others does to the person who loves. They ignore the fact that love is self-expenditure, a real expending, a real losing, and a real deterioration of the self.

Too often in our churches we hear the gospel of love without the gospel of need. Too often we hear the lie that to love is to help others without this help having any effect upon ourselves.”

Beck continues, “I don’t have any easy answers here. But I think I know these two things.

First, you might claim that you don’t fear death, but once you start loving others you’ll quickly find out that you do. And second, love is very much about our ability to transcend that fear.”

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” Jesus