Let Your Love Go

Posted by Jay

Hope that is hidden is selfish. Love that is held back is wasted.

In track, my favorite race was the 1500 meters (100 yards short of a mile). In a sprint like the 100 yard dash, it’s easy to give it your all… to go all out, because it’s short and the race is going to be over in seconds. In the 1500, it’s much harder to give it your all for the whole race. It is easier to find times to hold back. The worst feeling at the end of any sporting event, or really anything, is to leave knowing that I didn’t give it my all and that I could have given more.

When it comes to serving at a church, sometimes I leave with the same feeling. The feeling that I know I could have given more or that I know I held back. What do I hold back? Love.

I love Jesus, and I love worshipping Him. I love His creation of music and the part it plays in bringing Him glory. I love technology and the part it plays in bringing Him glory. I love His church, His message, His people, and His community. So what I am tempted to hold back every Sunday, (let alone the rest of my week) is that love. It’s vulnerable and scary to fully engage, to fully enter the moment, to fully give myself away emotionally in whatever I’m doing. It’s easier to hold some back.

Jesus didn’t do that, He didn’t hold back, He invested Himself fully in whatever moment He was in. And here’s the thing, when I don’t invest fully, people feel it. Love comes out in the way I treat people, love comes out in the way I worship. There is a noticeable difference in our offering of praise on Sunday or our service in the community throughout the week, when we hold back love. When we let all our love go, for God and for people, we encourage the community to love more.
Let your love go.