Love that Inspires Hope

Too often when we read about Jesus, we try to relate to the person who Jesus helped, heard or healed, rather than imitate his example of giving others hope.

The Bible defines genuine love by the hope it inspires in others; the world’s love is limited to an emotion or incident, but biblical love leavers others more hope-filled.

Do you build relationships in a way that inspires others to find hope in the face of seemingly impossible circumstances and odds?

Scripture

As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up! “The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. 16They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.”
Luke 7:12-16

Questions

Does your heart go out to those whose hearts and lives are broken?
Think of what this widow experienced in her life:

• Early on in her life, she must have imagined being married one day, imagined building a family, having a happy and fulfilling life!
• Yet all her hopes and vision had now literally died! And she had nothing that could explain why this happened to her!
• She no longer had a marriage or family, all her hopes had been lost; her future was seemingly gone!

Do you have love and compassion for those who have lost their dreams, their hopes?
So many women are experiencing this today!

• Yet, Jesus’ heart went out to this woman who had a broken heart
• Even though there was a large crowd with her, Jesus was the one who really SAW her
• He saw her pain, saw her struggle, saw the Possibilities that God still imagined for her life!

Additional Thoughts

Jesus’ heart and love for the widow, helped make the unimaginable happen for the Widow – raising her dead son back to life! We must love people enough to help them see God do the unimaginable, like raising a dead marriage, a dead heart, a dead life, or a dead family. Genuine love takes the initiative, just as Jesus does, to help the hopeless renew their hope in God, and believe that “God has come to help…”