My One Word: Love.

by Tom Shafer

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with EVERY FORM of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Follow God’s example, therefore… and walk in the way of Love.”
Ephesians 4:31-5:2

I like this idea, of walking in love. It isn’t one singular action, it is a whole set of them over the course of a year (and, hopefully, a life). The word “walk” gets a little overused around these parts and I almost decided against making it the foundation for my word for 2008, but in the end I am excited to give it a new meaning. I am not the most forgiving of people, nor am I the most patient, nor am I free of bitterness, nor am I very compassionate… the list is endless. Any one of the qualities would probably be sufficient to focus on for an entire year. So why “walk in the way of Love?” Why make it so difficult?

I like “walk” simply because I have to think it would be difficult to practice any one of these qualities without another. It would be difficult in the extreme to forgive while desperately holding onto a grudge. It would be nearly impossible to be considered compassionate while also having an extremely short temper. These are not independent qualities… they are all related (as one would expect, really; compassion, forgiveness, love – they all share an origin as characteristics we ought to have as Believers).

Even worse, it seems to be an utterly hopeless undertaking. I certainly know much more about myself than do you, the reader (and I am not inclined to elaborate too extravagantly), but you should understand that it will be easier for me to pass all 6 of my classes this semester with 90+ averages than it will be to show love to my girlfriend, my fellow musicians, my classmates, and the (few) strangers I interact with. But this is where there is hope… that God would take this effort (and really, choosing one measly word to focus on for 12 months isn’t much of an effort) and do something with it. “Walk” is hopeful since it implies movement, progress; you screw up, you try again. No need to be perfect and, well, that’s about all I can ask for in terms of leniency.

So that’s it. This year, I’m going to try to “walk in the way of love.” Here goes nothing…

tom

ps – yes, I changed my mind a week in and my word is “Love” not “Walk.”