What comes to mind when you think about risky behavior? I’m sure that we can all list many. I would like to throw one out there – the behavior that I think is risky is ……loving. Love is one very risky thing. Now, one can say, ‘yes, if I love playing in traffic, that is risky, or if I love petting alligators, that is certainly risky. But, if I love someone, is that risky behavior? YES, absolutely, if you love that someone truly, wholly, and unconditionally (or as close to that as we can in this world).
The kind of love that I am thinking of is love which offers itself freely and asks nothing in return. That means taking the chance that you will not be loved back, and that can pierce your heart. It means sometimes giving everything you’ve got and sometimes holding back and watching the object of your love stumble and fall. That kind of loving means that after getting hurt, you don’t walk away from, you walk back toward. It means making a choice not to give up on, to never give up on, because you believe there is always hope.
Real loving is risky. We all want love to be both given and received. It feels good when someone loves you and it hurts when they don’t. But love offered with strings attached is not really love, I believe. Love frees the other person. Love is emptying, self-sacrificing and worth dying for….sound familiar?
Reflections on the Journey 
It seems that so much in life that we value, that holds an important place in our lives, does come with a risk. Love, family, work, passions, they’re all an intricate journey, with chances of pain and beauty along the way.
Oh very risky indeed – to make yourself completely open and vulnerable. Yes, that is Jesus on the Cross, arms outstretched in the greatest love.
This is reminiscent of a conversation that we had in our liturgical leadership class where we talked about the risk of liturgy. Liturgy is love – imagine if we put it that way each week?
This is related to my post on trust, isn’t it? 1 Cor. tells us that love always trusts. And yes, they can both be risky. When I was writing my post on trust, I looked up all the Bible scriptures with that word. Most of the scriptures exhorted, “Trust in the Lord.” I couldn’t help thinking how this foundational trust impacts all of our relationships. Even when people fail, our trust in Him can deepen our trust.
Easy to say, not always easy to practice 🙂
Hi there!
You said a mouthful of good stuff — reminders, encouragement and also challenging because indeed love is risky but loving and trusting in and through Christ is how I love because when the hurts come I am comforted in Him.
His love for us is unfailing and unconditional and I’m so thankful.
You blessed me in your sharing.
Blessings to you!