LOVE IS LIKE FIRE

Peter Riedemann (1506-1556) wrote, “Love is like fire – when it is first kindled in us, small troubles and temptations smother and hinder it; but when it really burns, having kindled our eagerness for God, the more temptations and tribulations meet it, the more it flares, until it overcomes and consumes all injustice and wickedness.”

Riedemann wrote this while in a dungeon where he was imprisoned for his faith. He was an Anabaptist and persecuted during the Reformation with many others who did not agree with the Martin Luther crowd. Church History is an ugly tale. It’s a wonder any of us believe anything. Probably the only way it is possible is to allow, “love like fire” to grow in us as somehow it did in Riedemann.

Something very large must die in us to even want this kind of fire producing love to exist. As usual, it is a death to self and ego. I pray for even a small spark to kindle my heart in this kind of love.

“Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man.” Jesus