Keep Loving

My left foot would NOT stop hurting. Right on the top, in front of my little toe and in the surrounding area. I couldn’t see anything visibly wrong—no bruising or swelling. I didn’t remember doing anything to injure it. I decided to be a little less active and skip my run/walk exercise time for a few weeks. I sure did miss being outdoors, but I figured that was the only way for it to get better.

But instead it got worse. I was perplexed and started wondering if maybe it was from the boots I had been wearing to church. Were they too tight? After two months of this, I considered seeing a doctor but ended up figuring out the cause on my own.

 I’m embarrassed to admit the cause. Are you ready?….

I am pretty sure I am the only person in the world who could get a foot injury from reading! Yep! Lol! When I’m reading, I have this weird habit of bending my left knee and sitting on my foot. My foot was being stretched at an odd angle, and I had been doing a LOT of reading. Once I started using better body mechanics, my foot pain quickly subsided.

I remember thinking, “Oh, man! I missed the fun and connection with my running friends because I was trying to protect myself from pain, and running wasn’t even the cause of the pain!

There have also been other times I’ve missed out on connection with others because I was trying to protect myself from pain. Emotional pain is a different type of discomfort, but everyone has experienced it. We may not want to share our struggles with others because we want to appear strong and confident. Self-protection can show up in a lot of different ways. Shutting down conversations when they turn to certain topics. Avoiding getting close to people. Hiding emotions. Not being open with others.

Self-protection can also affect our willingness to share the gospel. We might fear rejection or worry about offending someone.

But self-protection is contrary to the gospel.
Self-protection puts self before others.

I don’t mean we should make ourselves a doormat for others to abuse. But if we are to love others the way Jesus did, we should love them even at the risk of being hurt. We should love them even knowing there is a good chance we could be misunderstood.

A lot of people misunderstood Jesus.
But that didn’t stop Him from loving others.

I imagine Jesus felt hurt as He watched the rich young ruler walk away from Him. I’m sure it was painful to offer salvation and see the young man choose riches instead.

I want to keep offering myself to others. I want to keep loving others. I want to keep sharing the gospel.

 And I’ll bring those hurts to Jesus.

Because sometimes the gospel offends. I just want to make sure that it is the gospel that offends people and not me or the way I’m presenting it. And I’m ok with being hurt by that.