Cross – Shaped Love Means …

I’m really enjoying Paul Tripp’s, Broken Down House – Living Productively in a World Gone Bad. In honor of soon-to-be-here-Valentine’s Day, consider this list from chapter 13 of what it means to be an instrument of cross-shaped love:

– “Not keeping yourself so busy with you and yours that you have no practical time to love others

– Being committed to knowing people, because you can minister only in a very limited way to those you do not know

– Being willing to have your life complicated by the needs and struggles of others

– Being willing to share your physical resources with others

– Being perseverant and patient even when the love you give is not returned

– Resisting the temptation to be judgmental, self-righteous and critical

– Overlooking minor offences and fighting the temptation to become bitter or cynical

– Being lovingly and humbly honest in moments of misunderstanding; more committed to reconciliation than to being right

– Not judging the success of your life by the size of your house or bank account, or by the quality of your car, but by the quality of your love for God and others

– Moving beyond simply surrounding yourself with people whom you find comfortable and likeable

– Being a student of God’s Word, a joyful participant in the means of grace, and a committed participant in the fellowship of the body of Christ, so that the love you offer others may be increasingly pure and mature

– Being willing to grant and receive forgiveness

– Learning the details about someone’s struggle so that you can love wisely, while at the same time guarding the reputation of the person you are loving

– Being willing to endure tense and uncomfortable situations lovingly.

– Making a committment to being a faithful friend

– Being open to counsel and receptive to advice

– Hiding God’s Word in your heart and keeping him kingdom always before your eyes

– Refusing to become anyone’s substitute messiah, but instead to point people to the presence and grace of Jesus

– Remembering that you are more like than unlike the people you are called to love”