Suffering for Love

From the June 11 page in Streams in the Desert, a quote from G. D. W.:
"...very few Christians are willing to endure the suffering through which complete gentleness is obtained. We must die to ourselves before we are turned into gentleness, and our crucifixion involves suffering. It will mean experiencing genuine brokenness and a crushing of self, which will be used to afflict the heart and conquer the mind." If you fail to do this he says, "Yet the heartstrings of their old natures have not been broken, and their unyielding character, which they inherited from Adam, has not been ground to powder. Their soul has not throbbed with the lonely, gushing groans of Gethsemane. Having no scars from their death on Calvary, they will exhibit nothing of the soft, sweet, gentle, restful, victorious, overflowing, and triumphant life that flows like a spring morning from an empty tomb."

Without this complete, suffering surrender, we run the risk of being Christian in name only. We might well be one of the ones who claimed to do God's work but about whom Jesus said, "I never knew you."

Though in the so-called " golden years" of life, I find I still have not completely surrendered myself. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit I see that I must abdicate my "self," the way a king abdicates his throne. The question is, who rules my life? Me? Or God?

It is so hard to chose suffering but true love suffers. God is love and He showed us that He suffered in Christ for us. One in Love is one in suffering with those we wish to help, support, aid, and love. At all costs chose love, chose love at any cost. This is the salvation of the world, our salvation.