THE WILL TO LOVE - Vital Christianity

44Quickly my bubble popped, the ideal was shattered! Christians were patterningtheir lives after their Lord but at the same time they were very much individualswith different ways (in some instances, very different) of looking at things.My reaction to this was retreat! The unexpected had happened. A matureChristian had proven to be a real human being! I was hurt! I was devastated!I wanted to hurt back, to recoil, to get even! What’s worse, I felt guilty aboutthose rebellious feelings! Maybe I wasn’t such a great Christian myself. MaybeI had to look at my own life. Maybe I wasn’t even worthy of doing church work.From there I sat back and observed. Those people weren’t as ideal as I hadExpected them to be. They were striving. There was stress. But then I wasn’tthe ideal person I had thought I was either.From that point, it seemed to me, that a choice had to be made. I could choose toremain invulnerable or I could risk becoming vulnerable.Because the hurt was still there I continued to observe hoping that I would growstronger while uninvolved. But then I felt left out and grew bitter. I again sawtheir imperfections and felt they were no better than I was. I felt they werehypocrites. And I began to notice within myself that I was becoming bitterrather than growing.Now I have progressed to the point where I realize that growth is possible onlyBy being vulnerable and in a position where my attitudes and beliefs are tested.While we all need to become more Christ-like, we must admit to ourselves thatWe don’t find perfection here on this earth whether it applies to our fellowChristians or ourselves.The bumper sticker, “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven” has now taken onspecial meaning. The only way to grow is to put our faith into action to becomevulnerable. Vulnerability includes getting hurt sometimes but in the processgrowing toward the ideal Christ put before us. We must learn to be sensitiveto others, to be loving and giving, and when hurt not to retaliate but to workthings out together.”THE RISKS OF LOVEC. S. Lewis writes concerning the risks of Love: