Humility as a measure of love

Christian love isn’t easy. Jesus takes humility and makes it the measure of how mature or real our love really is. Do we truly have a servant’s heart, like Jesus, or is our love self-seeking? Will we lay down our life, or will we protect our ego? It’s easy to love those who are attractive and agreeable. What about those who are insignificant, troublesome, or even offensive?

Take some time to sit with these 12 questions, like an examination of conscience, and see where your love still needs to grow or mature:

1. Have I loved my enemies, turned the other cheek in order to embrace those who hate me? Have I kept silent when I could have cut with my words?

2. Have I prayed for those who oppose or disagree with me?

3. Have I forgiven those who’ve hurt me, and asked God to forgive them, too?

4. Have I taken the high road when I’ve been slighted or ignored? Have I let go of grudges?

5. Have I risked humiliation and rejection in order to love another? Have I resisted the fear of being misunderstood, of not looking good, of not appearing strong or in control?

6. Have I stretched my heart in order to see those who are different or strange to me as fellow children of God?

7. Have I preferred the company of the attractive and the influential to that of the poor, the troublesome, and the broken?

8. Am I truly willing to lay down my life for friends and loved ones? How about for my enemies?

9. Have I been willing to “sweat blood” in order to be faithful to my commitments?

10. Am I willing to let my own heart be broken rather than violate someone else?

11. Have I resisted the urge to judge others or to impute motives?

12. Have I been willing to forgive myself, trusting enough in God’s love and mercy to pick myself up and begin again?