The Speed of Love
Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG)
Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Tired…Worn Out…Burned Out… One of the most common expressions of human suffering.
Jesus invites us to live freely and lightly.
There is a weight of responsibility in life, but Jesus teaches us to carry it in the right way.
We must cut ties with worry, busyness, and hurry.
Dallas Willard:
Hurry - “A state of frantic effort one falls into in response to inadequacy, fear, and guilt.”
“The simple essence of hurry is “too much to do!” The good of being delivered from hurry is not simply pleasure but the ability to do calmly and effectively – with strength and joy – that which really matters.”
“We should take it as our aim to live our lives entirely without hurry. One day at a time.”
Matt 6:25 -26 – “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? The Gentiles SEEK AFTER (aim at) all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
Anxiety and overwhelm come when we don’t know what to aim at and therefore, we try to aim at everything.
Matthew 6:33 (ESV) But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
One of the definitions of the word “seek” is TO AIM AT or fix your focus upon.
Jesus said the cure for anxiety was to re-focus your aim. Even to simplify your focus.
Romans 14:17 (ESV) - For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
It’s because if we never learn to aim for the Kingdom, we’ll never value and enjoy the benefits of the people God has put in our lives to the fullest extent that we can.
We’ve all heard it said before, RELATIONSHIPS TAKE TIME.
When we’re living at the speed of anxiety and hurry, we can’t live at the speed of love.
Matthew 22:38-40 (ESV)
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Kosuke Koyama:
“God walks “slowly” because he is love. If he is not love he would have gone much faster. Love has its speed. It is an inner speed. It’s a spiritual speed. It is a different kind of speed from the technological speed to which we are accustomed. It is “slow” yet it is lord over all other speeds since it is the speed of love.”
Questions for Discussion:
- What does it look like to aim for, or honor the Kingdom of God in your life?
- In what ways have you experienced the “free and light” life that Jesus offers?
- In what ways have you let anxiety and worry set the speed of your life?
- What are some strategies you can employ to slow down and live at “the speed of love?”
- Ask the Holy Spirit to bring one or two people to mind who are in your world who could use an invitation to begin a conversation with the lover of their souls.